NCERT Solutions Class 10 English Chapter 1 Fire and Ice Poem

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English for Fire and Ice Poem

Thinking about the Poem

2. For Frost, what do ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ stand for? Here are some ideas:

Answer
‘Fire’ stands for greed, avarice, lust, conflict and fury. ‘Ice’ stands for cruelty, intolerance, rigidity, insensitivity, coldness, indifference and hatred.

3. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? How does it help in bringing out the contrasting ideas in the poem?
Answer
The rhyme scheme of the poem is: a, b, a, a; b. c, b, c,b.
The contrasting ideas of ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ are presented using this rhyme scheme. He mentions that both fire and ice are probable ends of this world. While he talks about how fire represents desire and can therefore be a cause of the end of the world, he also mentions ice in between to symbolise that the coldness and indifference towards one another will also be enough to end the world. In the second stanza, he says that he knows of enough hate in the world to be sure that even destruction through ice would be sufficient to bring about the end of the world.

Fire and Ice Poem Summary Class 10 English

About the Poet: Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. He was born in 1874 in San Francisco, California. Known for his realistic depiction of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech, Frost frequently wrote about setting from rural life in New England in 20th century. In his lifetime, he won more than one Pulitzer Prize. His poetry remains significant in today’s literary world, and his name is also linked to the Robert Frost Library where President John F. Kennedy honoured the poet with a speech. Frost passed away in the year 1963.

Theme: The theme of the poem 'Fire and Ice' is about the destruction of creation. The world will be destroyed some day and the poet is of the view that there will be two reasons for its destruction - fire and ice. Fire symbolises greed, anger, jealousy, and war; and ice symbolises coldness, disregard, indifference, hate and selfishness. The poet impresses upon the reader that it would be the negative and repressive attitudes of human beings, that would be the forces contributing to this misfortune.

Summary: In this poem, the poet expresses the two ways in which the world may end. Some people say that the world will end by fire while others say that it will end by ice. The poet says that he is aware about the 'fiery desires' of human emotions, so he will favour those who say that fire will end the world. Then, the poet rethinks again and imagines, if the world has to die twice, then ice is capable of destroying the whole world too.
'Fire' represents the fiery, aggressive and negative attributes of human beings, such as possessiveness, covetousness, anger, hatred, destructiveness, which result in the creation of warlike situations that usually causes death and destruction.
Equally dangerous is 'ice' which represents apathy, hatred, disregard, lack of concern, indifference, selfishness, which results in a cold war, where again there is death and destruction. Both fire and ice are therefore, equally powerful in their ability to cause destruction. This is because one common factor in both the cases is 'Hatred' among human beings. That is why, the poet subscribes to the fact that both these opposing forces, are equally competent in achieving one common end - destruction of the world.
The poet could be making a subtle reference to the extent of environmental destruction that is being caused by man and his greed. This is causing grave damage to the equilibrium on the earth, leading to global warming. This is de-establishing the established climatic conditions. Cold regions are getting colder, the heat on the surface of the earth is getting unbearable. Life on the earth is getting tougher because of the apathy of man towards the environment. In such a situation, the poet could be implying that excessive heat and cold could be the cause of destruction of the entire universe.

Explanation of the poem:

Some say the world will end in fire
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.

Explanation: In these lines, the poet analyses the views of the people and states that there can be two possible causes for the end of the world. On one side there are people who believe that the world will end because of fire. Here, fire represents the extreme desire, anger, greed etc present wither of human beings. On the other side, there are people who favour ice. Here, ice represents the human emotions of hatred, intolerance etc. The poet from his experience believes that the world will end with fire. Thus, the poet remains with those people who favour fire.

But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Explanation In these lines, the poet thinks that if the world had to end twice, ice would also be able to destroy it completely. For the poet Ice (hatred) is as powerful as fire (desire).
In human beings, hatred is long-lasting and it enters into their hearts. It remains through the life. Thus, poet thinks that ice or hatred will be sufficient to bring an end of this world.