Another Jesse Gilbert-inspired choice this week: Robert Frost’s short poem “Fire and Ice”.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
Robert Frost (1874—1963)
I hold with those who favor fire.
Poem 429. 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.
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.
This seems like quite a simple poem on the face of it but like a lot of simple poems, there is a subtext.
Frost’s overt message seems to be that it’s irrelevant how the world will be destroyed as fire—the expansion of the sun to encompass the Earth—is as good as ice (the slow freezing of the Earth once the Sun has burned out) from the point of view of the humans, though he believes that fire is the more likely end. This interpretation was suggested by the astronomer Harlow Shapley who was asked by Frost how the world will end and suggested the two possibilities outlined.
The poem can also be read as the contrast between burning desire and frigid hatred, and a comment that each may be the cause of Earth’s destruction, though Frost’s opinion is that desire is the more likely. I am indebted to the article on the Interesting Literature website for this reading of the poem.
I like it because it is sparely written and every word counts, and because its message that desire and hatred can be equally destructive when taken to extremes.
Since this poem was chosen on the basis of Jesse Gilbert’s musical setting, that is the one I chose.