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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...."
'Fire and Ice', one of Robert Frost's most popular poems, was first published in December 1920 in Harper's Magazine, as well as later within his Pulitzer-prize winning book 'New Hampshire' (1923). The poem reflects on the topic of the end of the world, comparing one's insaciable lust with passionate flames, and seething hate with the ruthless cold. The poem has now become one of Frost's most esteemed, recognized, and anthologized poems.
Robert Frost (1874–1964) was one of America's most popular 20th-century poets. After decades as a farmer, he decided to devote himself to his poetry. His first two books of verse, 'A Boy's Will' (1913) and 'North of Boston' (1914), were immediate successes. Frost was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry four times, & also served as "Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress" in 1958. Today, he is most often remembered for his 'The Road Not Taken and Other Poems' (1916).
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire...."
'Fire and Ice', one of Robert Frost's most popular poems, was first published in December 1920 in Harper's Magazine, as well as later within his Pulitzer-prize winning book 'New Hampshire' (1923). The poem reflects on the topic of the end of the world, comparing one's insaciable lust with passionate flames, and seething hate with the ruthless cold. The poem has now become one of Frost's most esteemed, recognized, and anthologized poems.
Robert Frost (1874–1964) was one of America's most popular 20th-century poets. After decades as a farmer, he decided to devote himself to his poetry. His first two books of verse, 'A Boy's Will' (1913) and 'North of Boston' (1914), were immediate successes. Frost was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry four times, & also served as "Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress" in 1958. Today, he is most often remembered for his 'The Road Not Taken and Other Poems' (1916).
1 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 1920
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328 people want to read
About the author
Robert Frost
1,039 books5,045 followersFlinty, moody, plainspoken and deep, Robert Frost was one of America's most popular 20th-century poets. Frost was farming in Derry, New Hampshire when, at the age of 38, he sold the farm, uprooted his family and moved to England, where he devoted himself to his poetry. His first two books of verse, A Boy's Will (1913) and North of Boston (1914), were immediate successes. In 1915 he returned to the United States and continued to write while living in New Hampshire and then Vermont. His pastoral images of apple trees and stone fences -- along with his solitary, man-of-few-words poetic voice -- helped define the modern image of rural New England. Frost's poems include "Mending Wall" ("Good fences make good neighbors"), "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" ("Whose woods these are I think I know"), and perhaps his most famous work, "The Road Not Taken" ("Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- / I took the one less traveled by"). Frost was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry four times: in 1924, 1931, 1937 and 1943. He also served as "Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress" from 1958-59; that position was renamed as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry (or simply Poet Laureate) in 1986.
Frost recited his poem "The Gift Outright" at the 1961 inauguration of John F. Kennedy... Frost attended both Dartmouth College and Harvard, but did not graduate from either school... Frost preferred traditional rhyme and meter in poetry; his famous dismissal of free verse was, "I'd just as soon play tennis with the net down."
Frost recited his poem "The Gift Outright" at the 1961 inauguration of John F. Kennedy... Frost attended both Dartmouth College and Harvard, but did not graduate from either school... Frost preferred traditional rhyme and meter in poetry; his famous dismissal of free verse was, "I'd just as soon play tennis with the net down."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
August 13, 2021
“From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.”
― Robert Frost, Fire and Ice
It's an amazing poem and the themes are beautifully drawn. So is the imagery. I may have read this as a kid-I think I did. But it was great reading it as an adult.Highly recommended if you have not read it.
I hold with those who favor fire.”
― Robert Frost, Fire and Ice
It's an amazing poem and the themes are beautifully drawn. So is the imagery. I may have read this as a kid-I think I did. But it was great reading it as an adult.Highly recommended if you have not read it.
Read
February 7, 2017It is still too abstract for me. I have yet to improve and to take one step at a time to mature so that I can comprehend the underlying theme reflected within. I shall re-read and revisit the poem someday :)
March 29, 2017
This is an amazing, booming poem that will touch you to your core and make you contemplate what the poet is saying as well.
April 6, 2018
Love this poem!!!
October 5, 2022
We are all one with fire and ice, I think the real question is which comes first. Will we all burn or will we all freeze over first?
Hell freezes over
Fire and Ice is a nice poem about how we are partically world destruction. We can stop it, we can cause it, we ARE it. I've tasted desire and I've had my fair share of hate. Still to this day I have those things.
Hell freezes over
Fire and Ice is a nice poem about how we are partically world destruction. We can stop it, we can cause it, we ARE it. I've tasted desire and I've had my fair share of hate. Still to this day I have those things.
November 27, 2021
"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 know that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice."
Robert Frost is an incredible soulful writer who I thoroughly love the poems of. This one is potent and gorgeous! I love his philosophical nature and that he describes things so elegantly and cleverly.
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."
Robert Frost is an incredible soulful writer who I thoroughly love the poems of. This one is potent and gorgeous! I love his philosophical nature and that he describes things so elegantly and cleverly.
September 8, 2015
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.
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.
March 22, 2019
I have arranged my takeaway thoughts on this poem into a haiku:
"In the end, it's moot,
For ice and fire share one root--
That's mankind itself."
"In the end, it's moot,
For ice and fire share one root--
That's mankind itself."
November 4, 2025
"Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost was good. It's a good fit for anyone looking for a short meaningful poem. You can binge - read it in a day. I remember reading it back in 10th grade in 2019. I had a good experience with this deep poem.
October 29, 2025
Beautiful and sweet, a pondering on the way the world should end.
January 24, 2024
"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...."
The poem reflects on the topic of the end of the world, comparing one's insaciable lust with passionate flames, and seething hate with the ruthless cold. The poem has now become one of Frost's most esteemed, recognized, and anthologized poems.
Frost suggests that fire and ice are equal measures for the destruction of the world. This serves as an interesting view on polarity (and superposition) by saying that two poles are equal. Perhaps this can be extrapolated.
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire...."
The poem reflects on the topic of the end of the world, comparing one's insaciable lust with passionate flames, and seething hate with the ruthless cold. The poem has now become one of Frost's most esteemed, recognized, and anthologized poems.
Frost suggests that fire and ice are equal measures for the destruction of the world. This serves as an interesting view on polarity (and superposition) by saying that two poles are equal. Perhaps this can be extrapolated.
August 9, 2022
“The poem defies the charge of Puritanism that is normally levelled against Frost. To disgrace him people talk of Yeats’s spur to lust and rage, as if Frost did not know or have any of these. Frost’s full-grown poetry demonstrates the aside that Pound made with reference to his early work: “There are only two passions in art: there are only love and hate—with endless modifications”. Fire and Ice is Frost’s poem of dry-eyed reception of both passions in their most caustic form….”
This staggeringly diminutive lyric of nine lines merely is encumbered with tons of significance — denotation which is implied and reveals itself only to the analytical temper and the labouring accessible mind. The poem brings home to us the irony of human survival.
This illogicality intrinsic in the poem is indicated by the title of the poem ‘Fire and Ice’.
The poet feels that the world will one day be consumed by an overload of fire. But the poet also thinks that if the world were to end two times, even ice could obliterate the world, and there was adequate ice for this.
If interpreted at a representational plane, one could articulate that fire corresponds to tremendous passion of warm affectionte sentiments while ice stands for downright reversal or nonexistence of feelings. Or it could be hate outright.
At the core of the poem lies the suggestion that acute forms of either detestation or affection are uniformly catastrophic and holds the power to annihilate the world within the twinkle of a stare.
The very last line of the poem makes us feel that the poem does not question either the survival or the strength of these powers. He is cognizant of the harmful capacities of these two powers and is possibly an instinctive, hushed but desperately dependent observer of the world heading towards its conclusion in one of the two ways.
What can be more pathetic and satirical than one seeing one’s own self and one’s fellow beings heading onward towards predictable ruin — there is no alternative between life and death: there is only a choice in the scheme of death.
A disposition of feeble darkness permeates the poem. There is a pragmatic pessimism by which the poem is governed. It seems that Frost sees the astringent certainty of the world with an atypical aloofness as though he were not an element of the world.
Frost has been censured for the stiff tenor of the poem. This stiff quality of the pitch of the poem comes from the fact that the poem takes a commendably isolated and impartial stand in the poem. He purely presents the case as it is; he does not appear to be affected. He is cold and unmoved. But this inflexibility is seeped through and through in the poem.
We can conclude that though the poem is philosophical, and offers in the figure of an axiom, a speck of assumption about the ending of the world and the foundation of perception, this petite lyric is succinctness and exactitude illustrated.
The verse consists of barely nine lines. The poem demonstrates very well Frost’s metaphysical comportment and his competence in not only juxtaposing but also merging entirely adversative notions. The bringing together of fire and ice is perchance an inimitable trend in literary narration.
This staggeringly diminutive lyric of nine lines merely is encumbered with tons of significance — denotation which is implied and reveals itself only to the analytical temper and the labouring accessible mind. The poem brings home to us the irony of human survival.
This illogicality intrinsic in the poem is indicated by the title of the poem ‘Fire and Ice’.
The poet feels that the world will one day be consumed by an overload of fire. But the poet also thinks that if the world were to end two times, even ice could obliterate the world, and there was adequate ice for this.
If interpreted at a representational plane, one could articulate that fire corresponds to tremendous passion of warm affectionte sentiments while ice stands for downright reversal or nonexistence of feelings. Or it could be hate outright.
At the core of the poem lies the suggestion that acute forms of either detestation or affection are uniformly catastrophic and holds the power to annihilate the world within the twinkle of a stare.
The very last line of the poem makes us feel that the poem does not question either the survival or the strength of these powers. He is cognizant of the harmful capacities of these two powers and is possibly an instinctive, hushed but desperately dependent observer of the world heading towards its conclusion in one of the two ways.
What can be more pathetic and satirical than one seeing one’s own self and one’s fellow beings heading onward towards predictable ruin — there is no alternative between life and death: there is only a choice in the scheme of death.
A disposition of feeble darkness permeates the poem. There is a pragmatic pessimism by which the poem is governed. It seems that Frost sees the astringent certainty of the world with an atypical aloofness as though he were not an element of the world.
Frost has been censured for the stiff tenor of the poem. This stiff quality of the pitch of the poem comes from the fact that the poem takes a commendably isolated and impartial stand in the poem. He purely presents the case as it is; he does not appear to be affected. He is cold and unmoved. But this inflexibility is seeped through and through in the poem.
We can conclude that though the poem is philosophical, and offers in the figure of an axiom, a speck of assumption about the ending of the world and the foundation of perception, this petite lyric is succinctness and exactitude illustrated.
The verse consists of barely nine lines. The poem demonstrates very well Frost’s metaphysical comportment and his competence in not only juxtaposing but also merging entirely adversative notions. The bringing together of fire and ice is perchance an inimitable trend in literary narration.
March 15, 2017
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.
Yes... totally agree with my fav poet that the world will not end through burning (fire) or by freezing (ice), but the world can easily be destroyed through HATE!
Jealousy & hatred for each other is enough to bring massive destruction!
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.
Yes... totally agree with my fav poet that the world will not end through burning (fire) or by freezing (ice), but the world can easily be destroyed through HATE!
Jealousy & hatred for each other is enough to bring massive destruction!
October 19, 2020
5:07am
Unfortunately, I think the deep meaning and underlying themes (if there are any) were lost on me. I found it too notional and quite.. basic. The rhyming was pretty neat, though.
Unfortunately, I think the deep meaning and underlying themes (if there are any) were lost on me. I found it too notional and quite.. basic. The rhyming was pretty neat, though.
July 16, 2025
Antithesis and duality in a short poem?Count me in.
I like the fact that the poem works in two levels: what he says and what is underneath. Frost is deceptively simple using easy fiction to philosophize. Fire (passion) and ice(hatred) are two diametrically opposite states which are destructive.Nothing is specific, but maybe that is the point; this contradiction can be applied to many things, aspects,states in life. I like the contrast between the direct and simple tone of the poem to the indirect, general and complex implications that lie underneath.
I like the fact that the poem works in two levels: what he says and what is underneath. Frost is deceptively simple using easy fiction to philosophize. Fire (passion) and ice(hatred) are two diametrically opposite states which are destructive.Nothing is specific, but maybe that is the point; this contradiction can be applied to many things, aspects,states in life. I like the contrast between the direct and simple tone of the poem to the indirect, general and complex implications that lie underneath.
February 12, 2022
Some say jump,
And we, being
accustomed naturally,
say how high
But to what nature we are accustom?
Discernation seems to me but a sect of life, whose subscribers (myself included) are raised to divide and to choose. Is this right or wrong, left of right..., fire or ice?
We are so accustomed to choosing how the world ends that it's inevitability evades us.
Let living life be the nature to which we are accustom, not dissecting it.
Fire and ice both suffice. Lets get on with our lives.
And we, being
accustomed naturally,
say how high
But to what nature we are accustom?
Discernation seems to me but a sect of life, whose subscribers (myself included) are raised to divide and to choose. Is this right or wrong, left of right..., fire or ice?
We are so accustomed to choosing how the world ends that it's inevitability evades us.
Let living life be the nature to which we are accustom, not dissecting it.
Fire and ice both suffice. Lets get on with our lives.
March 11, 2024
FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
Again im doing the same mistake of reading a poem even thou I now super well that im not a poem person and I don’t understand the hype with poems. However this one wasn’t half bad as many other poems I’ve read.
The writing style was pretty decent but nothing extraordinary.
The theme of this poem was beautifully and really fun to read about.
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
Again im doing the same mistake of reading a poem even thou I now super well that im not a poem person and I don’t understand the hype with poems. However this one wasn’t half bad as many other poems I’ve read.
The writing style was pretty decent but nothing extraordinary.
The theme of this poem was beautifully and really fun to read about.
May 2, 2021
Fire and Ice is a famous poem by Robert Frost that poses a morbid yet interesting question. This poem considers the end of times both in a literal sense of the world burning up or freezing, i.e., the title: "Fire and Ice." But also, in a more figurative sense, human desire or human hatred pushing us forward to an uncertain yet indefinite end. We see this in the phrase "From what I've tasted of desire" and "I think I know enough of hate." these suggest how humans are our own greatest threat. This poem, though only nine lines long, leaves a major impact and can be a great conversation starter or even a page starter as from it, students may discuss or write many things such as what theories they come up with to expand on these nine-lines or even a story they write based on expanding these 9 lines.
On the surface, it may seem a bit mature for middle schoolers, as in a literal sense, it discusses how the end of the world will come about. However, if we strip it down and read between the lines, we see how relevant it can be. Through group and class discussion, I want my students to ponder what this poem could be saying if stripped down to its core. Ultimately we will discuss what this poem tells us about choice and how responsible choices lead one way and irresponsible ones lead differently. Including that making the responsible choice isn't always popular, nor does it generally give instant gratification the way irresponsible choices might; however, it pays off in the long run.
This poem is great for generating several burning questions that can be explored creatively. A strategy I would have my students do for Robert Frost's Fire and Ice Poem is Gallagher's Burning questions. The example I would provide and then look into would be, "Why are we humans obsessed with the end of the world? If we take such extreme examples of human nature and bring them back to ourselves as individuals, what do we obsess over?" I want them to consider one or two burning questions that this poem has given them and explore the answers through their own thoughts and research.
On the surface, it may seem a bit mature for middle schoolers, as in a literal sense, it discusses how the end of the world will come about. However, if we strip it down and read between the lines, we see how relevant it can be. Through group and class discussion, I want my students to ponder what this poem could be saying if stripped down to its core. Ultimately we will discuss what this poem tells us about choice and how responsible choices lead one way and irresponsible ones lead differently. Including that making the responsible choice isn't always popular, nor does it generally give instant gratification the way irresponsible choices might; however, it pays off in the long run.
This poem is great for generating several burning questions that can be explored creatively. A strategy I would have my students do for Robert Frost's Fire and Ice Poem is Gallagher's Burning questions. The example I would provide and then look into would be, "Why are we humans obsessed with the end of the world? If we take such extreme examples of human nature and bring them back to ourselves as individuals, what do we obsess over?" I want them to consider one or two burning questions that this poem has given them and explore the answers through their own thoughts and research.
February 5, 2025
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.
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.
December 24, 2017
A great short poem to read once more.
February 22, 2020
Superb. Instigated sophisticated thinking ...
January 30, 2021
Two ideas of how the world will end?
The shortest most significant poem I have never read.
The shortest most significant poem I have never read.
March 28, 2021
I feel like this piece really hit the nail on the head, especially with the state of the world today. Frost is a mastery of short poems with large meanings and I absolutely adore it.
April 12, 2021
The context of the poem is still very much relevant with the scenario we are facing in the contemporary world.
May 7, 2021
" But if it had to perish twice"
How the wirld will end? Fire or Ice?
I think I know enough of hate and love
How the wirld will end? Fire or Ice?
I think I know enough of hate and love
November 4, 2021
I had to do a project on a poet in 8th grade, and I chose Robert Frost. With one Google search, I found this poem. It's my favorite of his, and it's extremely thought provoking.
Read
November 3, 2023“I think I know enough of hate, to say that for destruction ice is also great and would suffice.”
April 20, 2024
"Fire and Ice" is a cunning poem about how you'd prefer the world to end, of desires and hatreds. My rating - 3/5
June 30, 2024
یه جا خوندم که این شعر دو سال بعد جنگ جهانی اول نوشته شده و اون موقع دورانی بوده که مردم فاز آخرالزمانی داشتن
September 30, 2025
got to read this twice this year once in english the other in twilight.
goes to show the absolute literary masterpiece it is.
goes to show the absolute literary masterpiece it is.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews