“FIRE AND ICE”

In the present text I’m going to discuss the structure and the meaning of the poem “Fire and Ice”.

Considering the title I expect the poem to be about a contrast between two different personalities or two opposite opinions.

Considering the lay-out the verse is free because there isn’t a dominant structure and it consists into nine lines. The poem is arranged into two couplets : the first one follows an alternate rhyme scheme in order to underline the contrast , instead the second one is a couple rhyme scheme.

The poem conveys two different points of view about the end of the world: the first two lines express others’ opinion, instead the other seven lines express the speaking voice’s point of view. There is a first voice which says that “some say” the world will end in fire or in ice.

The second speaking voice ,thanks to his experience, believes that the world will end in fire. Then ,on a second thought, he adds that all end both in fire and in ice .

Lines organisation is suitable to add meaning to the poem, to tell the truth the choice of alternate rhyme adds meaning to the two different opinions : on one hand ( A ) there are those who think the world will end in fire , on the other hand ( B ) there are those who are convinced it will end in ice.

The poet plays with the assonance of sound “I” so that the two world “ fire” and “ice “  recall each other. There is also the alliteration of sound “W “ so that the word “ world” becomes central in the first line and also the verb “ end” has got a stressed sillable and comes in a key position.

The poet exploits an anaphoric syntax creating a phonological effect . The first line ends with a comma in order to stops the reader attention on the word “ice “ . All the litteral devices prensented in the two first line are meant to better put into focused the two different opinions about the end of the world. The poet shows an argumentative structure : from his experience of having desire someone or something , he believes the world will end burning .

The third line makes a run on line with the following line however the comma in the fifth line has the function to create a pause and to think of the meaning of the previous two words “perish twice”, which is impossible in reality .

Moreover the two words  “ fire” and “ice” can have a metaphorical meaning : fire can symbolize “ love “ or “life” instead ice can represent “ hatred “ and “death”.

This poem can have the metaphorical meaning with a poet’s past experience indeed in the third line he refers to a past desire and furhermore in the sixth line the poet says that he knows enough  of hate and the intelligent reader can undrstand that the only certainty of the poet is that the world will end maybe like his past experience .