A STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

OF “FIRE AND ICE”

BY ROBERT FROST

EDENG 203: The Structure of English

Neil Gabriel D. Mesicula BEEN2

December 18, 2020

 “Fire and Ice”

By Robert Frost

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.

"Fire and Ice" is a popular poem by American poet Robert Frost. It was written and

published in 1920, shortly after WWI, and weighs up the probability of two different apocalyptic

scenarios represented by the elements of the poem's title.

Robert Frost’s poetry style could be described as conversational, realistic, rural, and

introspective. He also valued the use of traditional stanzas and metrical lines. He wrote various

types of poetry, but he seemed to particularly like a quatrain with simple rhymes like ABAB and

ABCB. Frost used a lot of metaphors in his poetry. Although he covers many subjects and

themes, the core themes of Robert Frost poems narrow down to nature and humanity.

I chose this poem for structural analysis because I’m fascinated by how the author

presents the two fatal possibilities of how the world will end, crafting humanity’s ability to create

disasters of its own. The symbolic meaning of two elements that would likely destroy the world

depicts desire and hatred that connotes violence or coldness.

A. Morphological Labeling

Some say the world will end in fire,

Func. Lex. Func. lex. Func. Lex. Func. lex.

Some say in ice.

Func. Lex. Func. lex.

From what I ’ve taste ed of desire

Func. lex. Func. func. Lex. Infl. Func. lex.

I hold with those who favor fire.

Func. Lex. Func. func. func. lex. Lex.

But if it had to perish twice,

Func. func. func. func func. lex. Lex.

I think I know enough of hate

Func. lex. Func. lex. Lex. Func. lex.

To say that for destruct ion ice

Func. lex. Func. func. lex. Der. lex.

Is also great

Func func. lex.

And would suffice.

Func. func. lex.

B. Categorial Labeling

Some say the world will end in fire,

Pronoun verb det. Noun modal/aux verb prep. Noun

Some say in ice.

Pronoun verb prep. Noun.

From what I ’ve tasted of desire

Prep. Adj. Pronoun verb verb prep noun

I hold with those who favor fire.

Pronoun verb prep. Adj. Pronoun verb noun

But if it had to perish twice,

Conjuction conj. Pronoun aux prep. Verb. Adverb

I think I know enough of hate

Pronoun verb Pronoun verb adj. prep. Noun

To say that for destruction ice

Prep. Verb conjuction prep. Adj. noun

Is also great

Vaux adv. Adj.

And would suffice.

Conj. modal/aux verb

C. Functional Labeling
Some say the world will end in fire,

S Vgrp[comptrans] dO oP

Some say in ice.

S Vgrp[prep] PC

(From what) I ’ve tasted of desire

S Vgrp[prep] PC

I hold with those who favor fire.

S Vgrp[comptrans] dO oP

(But if) it had to perish twice,

S. Vgrp[trans] dO

I think

S Vgrp[intrans]

I know enough of hate

S Vgrp[trans] dO

(To say that for destruction) ice Is also great

S Vgrp[intens] sP

And would suffice.

Optional Modifier

Conclusion and Insights

 Fire and Ice is a simple yet incomparable poem by Robert Frost that talks about the two

worst fates of the mundane world. It also highlights human beings' capacity for self-destruction,

presenting two methods in the form of fire and ice that implicitly conveys desire and hate,

respectively.

Frost discusses the topic of Armageddon as his poem grabs the reader’s attention on a

very serious question about the apocalyptic vision of the earth. The theme of the poem is the

central idea of the poem. It is about the generalization of the opinions of the people. He used

fire and ice as a metaphors. Fire represents desire that ignite anger and Ice is equated with

hate. Both metaphors are antitheses of each other. One is fiery other is frozen, one ignites

another cease.

The choice of words plays a significant role in building the inner concept of poem. The

poem was written in conversational way using conventional words that made the poem easy to

understand. Some words in the poem are purposely chosen. For example, the word desire was

used to preserve the rhyme scheme in a better manner. Also, using desire instead of lust gives a

broader scope of humanity’s capacity to do things that can cause their destruction. Additionally,

the word “tasted” also plays a role as a significant choice on the part of Frost. It creates

synesthesia, relating the abstract concept of desire to a relatable human sense. Based on the

morphological labeling of the poem, it was observed that the author starts each line with a

functional morpheme and ends with a lexical morpheme. The poem was expressed in 9 lines

following the rhyming scheme layout of “Terza Rima” which is ABA ABC BCB.

All in all, Roberts Frost crafts a very interesting work of literature that gives a good taste

of poetry and also leaves readers a food for thought about the choices of desire and hatred.

References:

BIBLIOGRAPHY Javed, A. J. (2015). STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF ROBERT FROST’S POEM: “FIRE AND ICE”.
International Journal of English and Education, 458.

Slideshare. (2017, February 26). Retrieved from www.slideshare.net:

https://www.slideshare.net/saeedqasim2011/research-report-on-robert-frosts-poems