Fire and Ice, Desire and Hate: Use of Elemental Symbolism by Robert Frost

In “Fire and Ice”, Robert Frost uses the elements of fire and ice as symbols for the emotions of desire and hate. Throughout the length of the poem, Frost compares fire and ice to desire and hate, respectively. He states that he would rather end filled with desire, and not consumed by hate. However, he can see how easily he, not to mention the rest of the world, could meet their end with an icy chill.

Fire and ice both have the ability to consume everything, just as our emotions have the ability to overwhelm our entire being. Frost alludes to fire as the emotion of desire. Fire can consume an entire house, and if not controlled, can leave it laying in ashes very quickly. Ice, which Frost alludes to as being hate, destroys very slowly. Ice can overwhelm something with the same destructive force as fire, but instead of ashes, leaves only a hard shell of what the an object used to be. Ice causes whatever it consumes to become rigid and cold, unmoving to the rest of the world. He says to use that he would rather see the human race quickly off to its end with passion, instead of being slowly destroyed by ice. Frost does, however, lament in the end by saying that the world is going to end, and leaves the reader to question which they would rather have: fire or ice?

Robert Frost knows that his end will come one day. It is unavoidable. He does say, however, that he would rather consumed with fire, and not frozen with hate. He knows that it is up to him, and everyone in the world, on how to meet that end.