Fire and Ice Review
One of the greatest poets of the nineteenth century was Robert Frost. His father was a Harvard graduate who began teaching after he moved to Pennsylvania. While there, he met and married Frost’s mother Isabelle Moodie, who was also a teacher. They later relocated to San Francisco. Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California. His name was carefully chosen, and he was named after one the most famous generals from the South, Robert E. Lee. Frost had one sister name Jeannie. In 1884, when he was ten years old his father passed away. Following his father’s wishes his family moved back to the East Coast which is where he wanted to buried. His family finally settled down in Salem, Massachusetts. In 1892, …show more content…
In fact, in a conversation with Dr. Harlow Shapley, one of Frost’s colleagues at Harvard, Frost supposedly asked Shapley how the world was going to end. Apparently the conversation which took place between them was the inspiration for “Fire and Ice”. Frost evidently approached him more than once asking about the very same thing. Shapley said, “"I told him that either the earth would be incinerated, or a permanent ice age would gradually annihilate all life on earth (Hansen 2000)”. However, according to Tom Hansen, in this poem “Frost presents the outer as emblem or echo or distorted mirror image of the inner”. It is apparent that the term fire is symbolic of desire, and the term ice represents hatred. According to John Serio, “Fire and Ice” is eerily similar to “Dante’s Inferno”. For example, it has nine lines which are symbolically comparable to the nine circles of hell in “Dante’s Inferno”. “As such, it presents a much more profound distinction between the two extremes of love and hate (Serio 1999)”. The first line of “Fire and Ice” eludes desire is perhaps a reason for the demise of the world as we know it. In the second line, hatred is given as an alternative reason, which is clearly indicative in the verbiage used when referring to the term ice. In lines three, four, and six, Frost uses pronouns in the first-person suggesting these are his personal beliefs about desire and hatred, both of which are considered sins. However, desire is considered to be a lesser sin than hatred. Also, in line four it is clear to see Frost believes that desire will be the ultimate cause for the destruction of our world. In lines five, six, seven, eight, and nine, he is indicating that if for some reason this mass destruction should occur more than once it would be far worse, because hatred
One of the greatest poets of the nineteenth century was Robert Frost. His father was a Harvard graduate who began teaching after he moved to Pennsylvania. While there, he met and married Frost’s mother Isabelle Moodie, who was also a teacher. They later relocated to San Francisco. Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California. His name was carefully chosen, and he was named after one the most famous generals from the South, Robert E. Lee. Frost had one sister name Jeannie. In 1884, when he was ten years old his father passed away. Following his father’s wishes his family moved back to the East Coast which is where he wanted to buried. His family finally settled down in Salem, Massachusetts. In 1892, …show more content…
In fact, in a conversation with Dr. Harlow Shapley, one of Frost’s colleagues at Harvard, Frost supposedly asked Shapley how the world was going to end. Apparently the conversation which took place between them was the inspiration for “Fire and Ice”. Frost evidently approached him more than once asking about the very same thing. Shapley said, “"I told him that either the earth would be incinerated, or a permanent ice age would gradually annihilate all life on earth (Hansen 2000)”. However, according to Tom Hansen, in this poem “Frost presents the outer as emblem or echo or distorted mirror image of the inner”. It is apparent that the term fire is symbolic of desire, and the term ice represents hatred. According to John Serio, “Fire and Ice” is eerily similar to “Dante’s Inferno”. For example, it has nine lines which are symbolically comparable to the nine circles of hell in “Dante’s Inferno”. “As such, it presents a much more profound distinction between the two extremes of love and hate (Serio 1999)”. The first line of “Fire and Ice” eludes desire is perhaps a reason for the demise of the world as we know it. In the second line, hatred is given as an alternative reason, which is clearly indicative in the verbiage used when referring to the term ice. In lines three, four, and six, Frost uses pronouns in the first-person suggesting these are his personal beliefs about desire and hatred, both of which are considered sins. However, desire is considered to be a lesser sin than hatred. Also, in line four it is clear to see Frost believes that desire will be the ultimate cause for the destruction of our world. In lines five, six, seven, eight, and nine, he is indicating that if for some reason this mass destruction should occur more than once it would be far worse, because hatred