Fire and Ice
Q 1.For Frost, what do
‘fire’ and ‘ice’ stand for?
Ans: The word ‘fire’
stands for desire. In the poem, it
indicates all types of greed and lust. In today’s world, mankind’s greed is
endangering the very existence of the planet Earth. The word ‘ice’ in the poem
indicates hatred and indifference which is as cold as ‘ice’.
Q 2.How has Frost brought
out the contrasting ideas in the poem?
Ans:‘Desire’ propels us
in hot pursuit of something, hence, it is compared with fire. ‘Hatred’ makes us
cold towards other’s feelings. The coldness of ice can numb our senses.
Similarly, the coldness of our hearts can numb our kindness. That is why
‘hatred’ has been compared with ice.
Q3. The poem
‘Fire and Ice’, carries with it very deep thematic ideas. Elaborate on these
darkest traits of humanity.
Ans: Frost presents the two of the darkest traits of humanity; the capacity to
hate and the capacity to be consumed by lust, greed or desire. Of the two, he
attributes the greater of the two evils, is greed. In giving greed the foremost
position with regard to the destruction of the world, Frost is providing a
powerful statement on the subject of desire and jealousy, saying that above all
trait of humanity that is most likely to lead to its demise. Frost then
attributes hatred with the same capacity to do harm. However, he lessens the
relative importance of hatred but still presents it as having the ability to
lead to the destruction of the world if it were to happen for a second time.
Q4. How will the
world end? Support your answer with scientific explanation.
Ans: According to the scientists, the two reasons for the destruction of the
world will be either global warming or the ice age.
Some scientists believed that the world would be incinerated from its fiery
core or global warming, while others were convinced that a coming ice age would
destroy all living things on the Earth’s surface. In other words, either the
deep heat or fire under the Earth beds will lead to natural calamities like
volcano eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis which will one day end the world or
the melting of ice from the snowy mountains due to global warming will shrink
the world. The other reason could be disruption of weather patterns leading to
ice age. Frost, thus, tries to warn people against the two greatest problems
facing humanity and the consequences of human vices with an increased effectiveness.
Q5. Examine the
symbolism and imagery in the poem.
ANs: Imagery in poetry refers to creating mental pictures by
word descriptions. It makes a poem more picturesque and appealing. In this poem
the images created are of a world engulfed with fire or covered with deadly
ice.
Using symbolism, the poet had used fire as a symbol of
greed, desire and jealousy.
Ice has been used as a symbol of hatred, indifference and
intolerance.
Q6. What is
enjambment? Pick out examples from the poem.
ANs: Enjambment is a poetic device where the poet uses long
sentences without any punctuation marks over a number of lines.
In this poem, there are many examples of enjambment-
From what I
have tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire
I think I
know enough…….suffice
Q7. Write down
the two different views about the end of the world?
Ans: There is a debate that is going on about the end of the
world. People say that the world will end in fire or in ice. This means that
the world may end because of people’s desires and greed or it may end because
of hatred and indifference.
Q8. Why does
poet hold with those who favour fire?
Ans: The poet agrees or supports those who say that the
world will end in fire because desire is powerful and would be a quick end.
Moreover, the fact that he has had personal experience with desire leads him to
first conclude that the world will end in fire.
Comments
Post a Comment