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.
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.
Glossary
perish: die
suffice: be sufficient
Thinking about the Poem
1. There are many ideas about how the world will ’end’. Do you think the world will end some day? Have you ever thought what would happen if the sun got so hot that it ‘burst’, or grew colder and colder?
2. For Frost, what do ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ stand for? Here are some ideas:
| greed | avarice | cruelty | lust |
| conflict | fury | intolerance | rigidity |
| insensitivity | coldness | indifference | hatred |
3. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? How does it help in bringing out the contrasting ideas in the poem?
