Fire and Ice

by Robert Frost · 1920 · 1分で読めます · 9行

要点

“Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost is a short poem about the world’s possible destruction and the human feelings that could bring it about. It begins with two competing claims: the world will end in fire, or it will end in ice. The speaker first favors fire, drawing on a personal taste of desire rather than offering scientific evidence. Then the poem imagines the world having to perish twice, giving ice its turn. The speaker connects this second possibility with knowledge of hate and concludes that ice could destroy just as effectively. Moving from a vast disaster to familiar emotions, the poem makes both burning desire and cold hatred seem dangerous. Its brief, calm ending contrasts with the enormous destruction it describes.

Some say the world will end in fire,Some say in ice.From what I’ve tasted of desireI hold with those who favor fire.But if it had to perish twice,I think I know enough of hateTo say that for destruction iceIs also greatAnd would suffice.

行ごとの意味の解説

1行目から2行目: The opening presents two views about how the world will end: fire and ice. Repeating the phrase “Some say” gives both claims a similar standing. These opposite conditions establish the poem’s central contrast before the speaker offers a personal judgment.

3行目から4行目: The speaker favors fire because of personal experience with desire. Describing desire as something tasted makes an emotion feel physical and familiar. The poem shifts from what unnamed people believe to what the speaker has felt, linking destructive heat with human longing.

5行目から9行目: The speaker imagines a second destruction, allowing ice to become another sufficient cause. Knowledge of hate supports this judgment, just as experience with desire supported fire. The brief closing lines sound restrained and matter-of-fact, making the claim that cold hatred can destroy seem especially stark.

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考えを深める三つの問い

How does the speaker’s experience of desire shape the initial preference for fire?
What changes when the speaker imagines the world having to perish twice?
How do the short closing lines affect the poem’s treatment of hate and destruction?

3か月間無料でご利用いただけます

200,000+の古典を、すべての形式で無料から楽しめます。

電子書籍、オーディオブック、15分で読める要約を楽しめます。どの本も紙の本や大活字本として、印刷費のみで購入できます。

無料で始めます本日のお支払いはありません。初年度は一日あたりUSD 0.14、その後は一日あたりUSD 0.27です。

次の詩Because I Could Not Stop for DeathDickinson · 1分で読めます