Fire and Ice

Part I: I like this poem because it is very personal for me. I tend to become be effected by these particular emotions (desire/hate) in an extreme way, so the pairing of those emotions with an element (fire/ice), and particularly that element in the context of the destruction of the Universe, sheds a new light on that event. More importantly, it allows me to identify with Frost. With regards to the human condition, Robert Frost truly nails it in this poem.

Part II:
The end of the world, Judgement day, or some other cataclysmic event is certainly a common belief held by mankind. There is almost a natural inclination to believe in it, seeing how its presence is almost archetypal across the world's cultural history. In "Fire and Ice," Robert Frost is relating the essence of destruction with two particular human conditions. This is such a beautiful metaphor, simply because the thought of the end of days is often detached, a remote reality that is far from our current state of affairs. The metaphors used by Frost, relating fire with desire, and hate with ice, allow one to achieve a new closeness with the horrors that are foretold about this Great Day.. Thanks Rob! But really, to think of a time when we were forced to hold back in a moment of classic road rage truly helps personalize the fiery chaos of the inferno. That freezing feeling of being snubbed by a close (and grumpy) someone on a bad day definately invokes the image of looming, powerful, and merciless ice. Why? Because we experience that droplet of Hellfire so intimately, and the fact that it overwhelms us so gives us an indicator about immensity and seriousness of the fate that possibly befalls us all.