Fire and Ice

Written and published after World War I but not falling into the World War I poetry genre, “Fire and Ice” poses two apocalyptic scenarios. The speaker believes that fire will be the more likely cause of the apocalypse, and they use the analogy of taste and the concept of desire to create the first apocalyptic scenario. The poem’s speaker opens the poem dispassionately. This dispassion shows in the phrase “Some say,” repeated twice at the poem’s opening: “Some say the world will end in fire, / Some say in ice” (Lines 1-2). At this point, the speaker is not vested in either argument. The speaker’s investment grows as they begin drawing on personal experience to form an opinion: “From what I’ve tasted of desire / I hold with those who favor fire” (Lines 3-4). The poem and the speaker’s tone shift as the speaker contemplates yet another apocalyptic scenario: “But if it had to perish twice, and the statement relies on the word “if” (Line 5), a conditional. The speaker again relies on personal experience to formulate an opinion: “I think I know enough of hate” (Line 6).