✅Type of paper:Free essay | ✅He:English literature/45 |
✅Number of words:1357 words | ✅Posted by:January 1, 2015 |
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Facebook Facebook logoTwitter logoRedditLogo RedditLinkedIn Logo LinkedInWhatsAppWhatsApp logotypeThe poem "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost deals with the eternal theme of the end of the world. The title alludes to fire, a hot, burning evil that burns flesh and ice, a frozen, chilling possession. The question for the reader is: does he or she believe that the destruction of our planet will end in fire or ice? What would be better? And what actually is fire? According to Webster's Dictionary, fire is "the state, process, or instance of combustion in which fuel or other material ignites and combines with oxygen to emit light, heat, and flame" (Dictionary). Fire in this sense can be completely different. How can there be ice. You usually think of ice as cold and harmless. But to think of a world ending in ice would be extremely harmful.
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Love and hate also play a key role in the song, as well as in life in general. Serio explains in the diary that "Fire and Ice" is a poem similar to Dante's Inferno in that it presents more elaborate differences between the extremes of love and hate (Serio 218). Frost uses tone, allusion, and diction to show how fire and ice can combine to produce the same consequences if hatred or desires get out of hand.
Robert Frost was born in San Francisco in March 1874. His father died when he was eleven and he moved to Massachusetts to live with his grandparents. He was a valedictorian in high school and began writing poetry during his high school years. He attended Dartmouth College for just one semester, then worked several different jobs, including as a journalist and teacher. He sold his first poem in 1894 and his first book of poetry in 1913. He returned to school at Harvard in 1897 and attended for two more years. In 1900 he moved to New Hampshire and tried to become a poultry farmer, but returned to teaching in 1906. His years in New Hampshire produced many of the songs for which he became world famous, including "Mending Wall" and "Mowin" (Academons). This background information about Frost's life shows his high intellect and probably his thinking about why his writings were difficult to understand.
In the first half of the poem, the speaker shows a sense of detachment. The first two lines say that "some say the world will end in fire, others say in ice" (445). This sentence expresses a feeling of distance from the world. The speaker separately says that the end of the world will come in a controversial way. The second and third lines of the poem put the reader in perspective, and the speaker now offers his opinion. "From what I have tasted of lust, I cling to those who love fire" (445). He also introduces an angry tone by referring to fire, evoking the reader's thoughts of rage and anger. In this line of the poem, Frost can be said to support Aristotle's belief that hatred is condemned as much worse than lust (Serio 218). Moreover, the reader can infer from Frost's work that sins of reason can be worse than sins of passion associated with desire (Serio 219). Humor also plays an important role in the tone of the song. No one would think that the simple title "Fire and Ice" would be humorous in any way, but the fifth line changes the attitude completely and challenges the reader to the main question: how do you think the end of our civilization will come to play? become?
Frost masterfully combines the ideas of biblical reference and science into one short poem. The last line introduces the idea that the world could end in fire. This is an allusion to the Holy Scriptures of the Christian faith. The Bible says that the Earth was flooded long ago, in the days of Noah, and that the second destruction will be by fire. This is God's will and he wants the world to fall like this. God said this after deciding that the world must never again end in a flood. Frost also puts the ice into perspective in the second line of the poem. This is a scientific reference related to the Ice Age. Scientists believe that the way humans treat this planet could cause another ice age, but there is still a huge debate that acknowledges that the depletion of the ozone layer is the cause of the Earth's overheating over the years. By introducing this topic, the reader gets the impression of a contradiction between faith and science. Frost also claims that his mind can swing in any direction between world-destroying fire and ice. Simply put, fire would be fine to destroy the Earth, but ice would "do" (445). Both the opposing concepts and the presented viewpoints enable a richer comparison of both elements. Overall, by keeping his meaning low and readable but more difficult to understand, Frost greatly enriches the meaning of his short, lyrical poem (Serio 220).
Frost also uses words and phrases that seem above average, which makes the poem flow. For example, his taste for lust is strong and helps to easily find the main point of the reading. Although lust cannot actually be tasted, Frost's simplicity of writing and use of symbolic language keeps the reader motivated and motivates him to think about his own desires in life. The third and last line of the song is almost half of the song itself. This introduces a humorous aspect that gives more insight into the mind of Robert Frost. The alliteration of the word "ice" in "twice" and "enough" seems to add to the bitter coldness of hatred with its triple repetition (Serio 220). Saying that if the world died twice, ice would do just as well as fire shows that Frost doesn't like the way the world will end. It introduces the reader to the question in more detail and allows Frost to remain mysterious and leave the question unanswered, as he does in most of his work.
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"Always agree to what is asked of you. Take what you're given and do it your way. My goal in life has always been to persevere in whatever happens. Not against: sa'. This quote from Robert Frost puts the issue of religion into context as we humans are called to accept that God created the universe and controls the ultimate destruction of the world. Science is also included as it deals with biblical aspects. Science essentially reworks basic principles and takes whatever is given to rework ideas into what is deemed appropriate. A man named Harlow Shapley claims to be, say, Robert Frost's muse when Frost wrote "Fire and Ice." Sharpley claims that Frost begged him for attention and insight into astronomy and eventually asked him for his opinion on the end of the world (Hansen 28). The two talked and met again later in the evening to talk more about it. "I told him that either the earth would burn or a permanent ice age would gradually wipe out all life on earth" (Hansen 28). This statement by Sharpley can be attributed to the writing of "Fire and Ice". Sharpley explains in detail why the world is likely to end in one of these two ways. Articles have been published that show even more clearly that Robert Frost's mind cannot be thrown out of balance. Sharpley takes credit for the meaning behind the poem, but in reality no one can really interpret the events behind what Robert Frost may have thought.
In conclusion, the poem "Fire and Ice" is filled with many different literary aspects and also provides many messages to the reader. There is no real definition of what a song means. Frost created his poem as a puzzle, and it has been that way for years.
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