...Poetic Devices and Practical Criticism on Robert Frost’s “Fire and Ice” Poetic devices are the most important part of poetry writing. A good poet will always use poetic devices to make the reader involved in the lyrics of his/her poem. And when a poet does this, the reader starts feeling and thinking in the same manner as the poet thinks and feels. This is what Robert Frost does to a reader when he writes a poem. One of his all time favorite poem is Fire and Ice. Frost portrays a huge connotation to his readers through this poem (Kuiper 23). By means of poetic devices, he divulges what will eventually bring this world to an end. Frost provides the readers with two paths i.e. fire and ice which will eventually end to this world. Fire and Ice is a poem that itself does not need a lot of explanation regarding the meanings of phrases or words, owing to Frost’s focus on making the poem clear and comprehensible by all. In spite of the cleanness of the use of language, the poem brings with it very profound thematic thoughts. Basically, Frost is giving comments upon two of the shadowy characteristics of human beings: the capability to be consumed by envy and lust and the capability to hate (Mishra 103). From these two, he points the greater of two harms i.e. to desire. In putting desire to the leading position with respect to the world destruction, Frost is giving a strong statement in relation to jealousy and greed, saying that more than anything else, even hatred,...
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...Fire and Ice In the poem “Fire and Ice,” by Robert Frost, everyone seems to have their own opinion on the message Frost was trying to convey. A poem not structured by fact, but of opinion. Throughout the poem, Frost uses metaphor, imagery, and little bit of alliteration to convey his message. Frost was implying that the human nature could lead to the destruction of mankind. There is also an interesting anecdote in Frost’s personal history that might explain why he chose this motif for this poem. Harlow Shapley claimed he inspired Robert Frost to write “Fire and Ice meeting with a great American astronomer Harlow Shapley the year before the poem appeared (1920), Frost asked how the world would end and Shapley said either the sun would expand and Earth would destroyed in a conflagration (fire) or it would die and the Earth would freeze solid (ice). With all of these influences, its small wonder that Frost wrote this philosophical gem or that it took the form it did. (Hansen) Frost begins his poem briefly describing his opinion on how the world will end. Fire is greed and desire while ice is cold hatred. Whether it shall burn in flames or freeze over forever on. The next two lines then followed by the word “I” which more emphasizes the factor of opinion. Along, with opinion, it also creates a more personal and emotional effect that helps connect with the reader. Between the same two lines that contain the word “I” Frost mentions his...
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...Robert Frost’s “Fire and Ice” In 1923, prolific poet Robert Frost wrote the poem entitled, “Fire and Ice”, which was his way of deciphering which way the world would end and cease to exist. He pondered through two solutions: fire and ice, which are two extremes on a spectrum. Through many of Robert Frost’s works, he discusses the existence of life and man’s response to life and nature that surrounds it, which is no surprise that he would focus his attention to the demise of the world. Frost’s unique use of imagery in “Fire and Ice,” brings this short poem to life as he gives us, as readers, a look into his thoughts of the fate of the world. As you read the title of the poem, “Fire and Ice,” there are many conclusions one can come up with that they would think the poem is about. Frost’s use of imagery causes us, as readers, to be drawn in immediately. The first line of the poem tells us what Frost recalls others to say how the world will end, and then he continues to give his personal account. He begins by saying, “From what I’ve tasted of desire/I hold with those who favor fire” (4-5). These two lines seem to describe the intense passions and desires, which can consume us and cause us to be destroyed if they are unhealthy. Because of our extreme passions with desires, Frost agrees with those who believe they world will end in fire. Frost continues by discussing the viewpoints of those who believe the world will end ice. He states: ...
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...Fire and Ice Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor 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. Robert Frost So my favorite poem I have to say is Fire and Ice by my favorite poet Robert Frost. First of all the reason I like Robert Frost’s poetry is Because his poems have such deep meaning and it makes us think more About life and identifying the world we live in. His poems can be really Sad but still its very enjoyable to read and it makes great sense to me. He doesn’t use very big words, but there so simple and have such a Deep meaning making his poems easy to understand and is very Touching. I believe that when reading a poem it’s not about oh if the Poem rhymes or it doesn’t have literary devices, it matters if it makes Sense and you feel something from it almost like a connection if it Tells you something in your mind then that’s a good poem and Robert Frost never fails. The reason out of all the poems this is my favorite one Because it talks about how the world will end due to our natural Disasters and its saying will it end in a fire, or ice. I think, that ending In fire means that everything will be destroyed rather than ice means Everything will still be there but it will be frozen which meaning nothing Can move. I really like how intimates the worlds problem in this poem In...
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...Robert Frost, born on March 26, 1874, in San Francisco. As it says on poet.org about Robert Frost, He became interested in reading and writing poetry during his high school years in Lawrence, enrolled at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, in 1892, and later at Harvard University in Boston, though he never earned a formal college degree. Some of Robert Frost’s poems I’m using are Fire & Ice, The Runaway, and The Road Not Taken and how he uses the three literary elements such as Implied Metaphor, Personification, and Extended Metaphor to create the theme of Hatred, Desire, and Making Choices can lead to Freedom. Starting it off, Fire & Ice, published on December 1920. Robert Frost uses Implied Metaphor in the poem. Example in the poem are, “Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From What I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for...
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...Sometimes the simplest words can have the deepest meaning. In the poem “Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost, two separate elements are used as symbols for different behaviors in the world. Just by reading the poem, Frost portrays that the world will either burn or be iced over, however there is much more than just the obvious behind his words. The first element, fire, which “Some say the world will end in” (1), symbolizes the burning desire of humans or their passion. Our desires may not seem harmful, until they make us greedy enough to do things, such as use up all of our needed, natural resources. Nothing can stop our constant desire for things, no matter what it is; fire can be a disaster that can’t be stopped either. Once our burning passions...
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...Devin Murray English 101 Professor Molitoris March 18, 2014 A Breakdown of Two Small But Powerful Poems Robert Frost’s “Fire and Ice” poem and Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool” are ten lines or less but are poems that are extremely powerful and influential. Robert Frost talks about death but if the world ended, how would an individual want to die. Would an individual rather die by burning to death or being frozen to death? Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem is about a group of young black men who have no potential or future. All in all these poems have a vivid sense of imagery, an inspirational theme, and an odd rhyme scheme and meter. Although these two poems have two completely different subjects, they make you think and actually begin to questions certain aspects of life. In Brooks’ she sets the scene along with her characters and setting before even starting the poem. She lets know the characters are seven pool players, at the Golden Shovel. The Golden Shovel is a metaphor for these teenagers digging their own grave, when they’re supposed to be having fun, because they’re in their golden years. In lines 2-4 of her poem she talks about how the teenagers dropped out of school, stay out late, and that they commit crimes head on. This is a great example of imagery, because one can easily imagine young African-American kids not having anything to do after they dropped out of school and start to do illegal things. Therefore Brooks’ gave a great name for the setting, the Golden Shovel...
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...Discoveries are able to provide a change in perspective or outlook on the world. This is evidenced though the Robert Frost’s poetry, “Fire an Ice” and “Home Burial”, Rachel Perkins musical “One Night the Moon” (2001) and Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” (1979). The composers are able to inform their respective audiences with messages about the discovery of the human condition, in particular, relationships between loved ones and the destructive nature of man kind. Robert Frost’s “Home Burial” and Rachel Perkins “One Night the Moon” both effectively explore the nature of relationships between husband and wife. They both reflect on the emotional experiences of the couple and the different mechanisms of the heart. Frost and Perkins are...
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...FIRE AND ICE by: Robert Frost (1874-1963) OME say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To know that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice. HOUSE FEAR by: Robert Frost (1874-1963) LWAYS--I tell you this they learned-- Always at night when they returned To the lonely house from far away To lamps unlighted and fire gone gray, They learned to rattle the lock and key To give whatever might chance to be Warning and time to be off in flight: And preferring the out- to the in-door night, They learned to leave the house-door wide Until they had lit the lamp inside. A LATE WALK by: Robert Frost (1874-1963) HEN I go up through the mowing field, The headless aftermath, Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew, Half closes the garden path. And when I come to the garden ground, The whir of sober birds Up from the tangle of withered weeds Is sadder than any words. A tree beside the wall stands bare, But a leaf that lingered brown, Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought, Comes softly rattling down. I end not far from my going forth By picking the faded blue Of the last remaining aster flower To carry again to you. THE LOCKLESS DOOR by: Robert Frost (1874-1963) T went many years, But at last came a knock, And I thought of the door With no lock...
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...Fire and Ice Will the world ever come to an end? And if so, should it end in fire or in ice? These two core questions are raised while reading Robert Frost’s poem “Fire and Ice”. But just for a moment, if we were to take the physical world out of context and replace it with those who live in it, then maybe there is something more to it. Maybe the physical world will not end in such tragic ways, but perhaps society will. These two powerful elements, fire and ice, that are on complete opposite sides of the spectrum, somehow bring out a thought-provoking process about the deterioration of society. The two elements that Frost incorporates into his poem are very vital to its analysis. Fire can symbolize many things negatively as well as positively. The negative affiliations with fire include chaos, war, ruin, and destruction. Few years prior to the American Revolution, there was a chaotic clashing between American colonists and the British because of heavily imposed taxes, thus, portraying an unorganized and hostile society. Plenty of wars have occurred on this earth because of societies. Ruin and destruction also exemplify the notion of this idea. After the tragic 9/11 incident in the United States, many Americans developed such a hatred for the Muslim people (and vice versa) to the point where racism was deemed acceptable. The actions were responsible in the production of one society against another leaving practically no lee-way for peace. Although these characteristics...
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...Fire and Ice Paragraph Imagine two men walking down the street. One is in a suit and tie, the other is in a pair of baggy shorts and a snapback. Obviously, they both are totally the opposite from each other. But on the inside, they can both share the same types of characteristics. This is exactly what Robert Frost preaches to all of his readers in his poem Fire and Ice, teaching to his readers that even though opposites can totally be different, they can still result in the same outcome. For example, someone who has repeatedly been surrounded by negative and unhappy energy while eventually start to think that “(Their) world will end in fire (Line 1)”. In other words their life will end in the same negative emotions there are currently dealing with and will start to think that they will never be able to feel the happy and joyful emotions which Robert Frost describes as “ice”. But what they don’t know is that the opposite end of their spectrum can cause the same type of damage such as bitterness and loneliness. Also for someone who has “(known) enough of hate, (might) say that for destruction ice is also great (line 8)”. And what this means is that depending on how much the powerful word of hate has been in one’s life, if they had to perish twice they would realize that being surrounded with bitterness and desolation or so called “ice” can have the same impacts of “fire”. In the end, even though two totally different things can at the time seem completely the opposite, they...
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...Poetry assignment By: Bleon Acquainted with the night By: Robert frost I have been one acquainted with the night. I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain. I have out walked the furthest city light. I have looked down the saddest city lane. I have passed by the watchman on his beat and dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain. I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet When far away an interrupted cry Came over houses from another street, But not to call me back or say good-bye; And further still at an unearthly height, A luminary clock against the sky Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. I have been one acquainted with the night. Analysis The man in this story has walked at night a lot. He’s walked both away and back, probably his home, in the rain. He has walked out in to the city, and past the lights, maybe out of the city, and he’s looked down lonely, dark streets. The man has walked by a watch man, and look at him because he didn’t want to say why he was there, not even with a glance. The man stops because he wants to listen to a voice calling from the other street. He hoped the voice was calling for him. The man looks up at a clock, which probably is the moon, he was not satisfied with the time it showed. He ends by referring to the first line of the poem. I picked this picture for the poem because it connects so well with the poem...
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...Classic Poetry Series Robert Frost - poems - Publication Date: 2004 Publisher: PoemHunter.Com - The World's Poetry Archive "In White": Frost's Early Version Of Design A dented spider like a snow drop white On a white Heal-all, holding up a moth Like a white piece of lifeless satin cloth Saw ever curious eye so strange a sight? Portent in little, assorted death and blight Like the ingredients of a witches' broth? The beady spider, the flower like a froth, And the moth carried like a paper kite. What had that flower to do with being white, The blue prunella every child's delight. What brought the kindred spider to that height? (Make we no thesis of the miller's plight.) What but design of darkness and of night? Design, design! Do I use the word aright? Anonymous submission. Robert Frost www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 2 A Boundless Moment He halted in the wind, and -- what was that Far in the maples, pale, but not a ghost? He stood there bringing March against his thought, And yet too ready to believe the most. "Oh, that's the Paradise-in-bloom," I said; And truly it was fair enough for flowers had we but in us to assume in march Such white luxuriance of May for ours. We stood a moment so in a strange world, Myself as one his own pretense deceives; And then I said the truth (and we moved on). A young beech clinging to its last year's leaves. Robert Frost www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive ...
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...Mending Wall Analysis Robert Frost is often referred to as a poet of nature. Words and phrases such as fire and ice, flowers in bloom, apple orchards and rolling hills, are all important elements of Frost's work. These ‘benign' objects provide an alternative way to look at the world and are often used as metaphors to describe a darker view of nature and humans. In Frost's poetry, the depth is as important as the surface. The darker aspects of Frost's poetry are often portrayed through the use of symbolism, vivid imagery, and selective word choice. Frost's poems appear to be simple on the surface, yet upon further scrutiny the poems reveal themselves as elusive. Frost utilizes ordinary objects to create a deeper meaning. For example, the poem "Mending Wall", appears to be about the differences between two neighbors and their ideas on rebuilding a wall. On the other hand, the wall may be viewed, in a more general sense, as a symbol to represent all the antagonistic or mistrustful barriers that divide man from man.It describes how the conservative farmer follows traditions blindly and the isolated life followed by him. It reflects how people make physical barriers and that later in life come to their social life too. Where neighbor with pine tree, believes that this separation is needed as it is essential for their privacy and personal life. The poem explores a paradox in human nature. The first few lines reflect demolition of the wall, ? Something there is that doesn?t...
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...“Miles to go before I sleep” Robert Frost’s poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, is a few lines describing a man’s horse ride through the woods, but it speaks to everyone who reads it about major questions concerning their lives. In Stanley Burnshaw’s Biography, “Robert Frost”, he said, “In the great short lyrics of New Hampshire (1923) and West-Running Brook (1928)—such as “Fire and Ice,” “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” and the title poem of the latter book—a bleak outlook on life persuasively emerges from the combination of dramatic tension and nature imagery freighted with ambiguity”. Frost was a powerful poet who used metaphors and imagery in his writings; for that reason most of his written work is discussed at the academic level and his work can often be...
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