NCERT SOLUTIONS FOR CLASS 10 - ENGLISH NOTES - FIRE AND ICE - ROBERT FROST - QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - CBSE

 

FIRE AND ICE

ROBERT FROST

 

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 gets so hot that it ‘bursts’ or grows colder and colder?
Ans: There are unquestionably numerous thoughts regarding how the world will 'end'. I do accept that the world will end some time or another as whatever has a starting will have an end. This stands valid for the world also, if the Sun got so blistering that it burst, the entire of the Earth would die promptly as no piece of the Earth can bear the warmth of that power. Be that as it may, if the Sun grew colder and colder, all that will reach a conclusion as without sunlight, life will end.

 

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)

Ans:  ‘Fire’ stands for greed, avarice, lust, conflict and fury.

‘Ice’ stands for cruelty, intolerance, rigidity, insensitivity, coldness, indifference and hatred.

 

3) What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? How does it help in bringing out the contrasting ideas in the poem?
Ans: The rhyme scheme of the poem is- a b a a b c b c b
This rhyme scheme helps in drawing out the differentiating thoughts of 'fire' and 'ice' introduced in the poem. The poet makes reference to that both fire and ice are probable ends of this world. He discusses how fire addresses desire and can in this way be a reason for the apocalypse. Robert Frost also makes reference to ice in between to represent that the coldness and indifference towards each other will be sufficient to end the world. In the subsequent verse, he says that he is aware of enough hate on the planet to be certain that even destruction through ice would be adequate to achieve the apocalypse.