Poem – 2
Fire and Ice
In this post, we have given the Important Questions of Poem 2 “Fire and Ice”. It is the 2nd chapter of Class 10th English.
| Board | CBSE Board, UP Board, JAC Board, HBSE Board, UBSE Board, PSEB Board, RBSE Board |
| Textbook | NCERT |
| Class | Class 10 |
| Subject | English Beehive |
| Chapter no. | Poem 2 |
| Chapter Name | Fire and Ice |
| Category | Class 10 English Important Questions |
| Medium | English |
Poem 2 Fire and Ice
Question 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?
Answer: There are definitely many ideas about how the world will ‘end’. I do believe that the world will end some day as anything that has a beginning will have an end. This stands true for the world also, if the Sun got so hot that it burst, the whole of the Earth would perish immediately as no part of the Earth can bear the heat of that intensity. But if the Sun grew colder and colder, everything will come to an end as without sunlight, life will end.
Question 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
Answer: ‘Fire’ stands for greed, avarice, lust, conflict and fury. ‘Ice’ stands for cruelty, intolerance, rigidity, insensitivity, coldness, indifference and hatred.
Question 3. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? How does it help in bringing out the contrasting ideas in the poem?
Answer: The rhyme scheme of the poem is- a b a a b c b c b
This rhyme scheme helps in bringing out the contrasting ideas of ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ presented in the poem. The poet mentions that both fire and ice are probable ends of this world. He talks about how fire represents desire and can therefore be a cause of the end of the world. Frost also mentions ice in between to symbolise that the coldness and indifference towards one another will be enough to end the world. In the second stanza, he says that he knows of enough hate in the world to be sure that even destruction through ice . would be sufficient to bring about the end of the world.
Question 4. What does ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ stand for and what is the general opinion regarding the world?
Answer. Fire stands for fury, desire, lust, anger, avarice, cruelty and greed. Ice is symbolic of hatred, coldness, rigidity, insensitivity and intolerance. The general opinion regarding the world is that the world will end in fire and some say ice. Both the two reasons contrast each other and one equally opposite to each other. People who favour fire believe that it will be the heat and passion which will end the world. On the other hand, some people think that it will be the ice which will freeze the world.
Question 5. Nothing is immortal in this universe. Fire and ice are very powerful things. They will destroy it. But hatred is more powerful. Explain.
Answer. It is a universal truth that nothing is immortal in this universe. Every thing has to destroy one day. Fire and ice will not leave anything. The poet also supports those who favour fire. But the feeling of hatred is more dangerous than fire and ice. Hatred will destroy it into pieces. This feeling will spoil the humanity from this earth that is the
human ornament.
Question 6. What deep meaning does the poem ‘Fire and Ice’ carry in it?
Answer. The poet has compared fire to the dark side of humanity i.e., hatredness and lust. According to the poet lust is a greater evil. Desire or lust is the cause of war. Hatredness is also harmful. So the poem ‘Fire and Ice’ represents the two evils hatredness and lust which lead to the destruction of the world. According to the poet fire stands for desire, greed and avarice. The more you try to satisfy them, the more they grow. There is no end to it. They spread rapidly like fire and ruin your whole life. On the other hand, ‘ice’ according to the poet, stands for hatred, coldness and rigidity. One becomes insensitive and indifferent towards the feelings of others. One becomes selfish and sometimes cruel also. The poet says that both fire and ice are growing with such a rapid speed that the world would soon perish either way, in fire or in ice.
Question 7. Mention two contrasting views regarding the end of the world as forecasted in the poem “Fire and Ice”.
Answer. The theme of the poem is the destructive potential of hatred and desire. The poet uses contrasting elements fire and ice to explain its power of destroying the world. By fire he metaphorically means the destructive nature of human emotions like desire and hatred while ice signifies the feelings which is bereft of love, affection and ympathy. Hence both type of human nature has the potential for self destruction. If fire leads to rapid destruction, ice would lead to silent damage. As such the two contrasting elements fire and ice both would be just as good to destroy the world.
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