Name: Angelica Deza

Year&Section: BSED-2A

MODULE V
Analysis:
“Fire and Ice”

Some says the world will end fire

Some says in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those 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.

Summary:

Fire and ice is one of the work of Robert Frost, it is about life, death, and
opposites. It has nine lines and a repetition, juxtaposition, and rhyme. It
explores the universal interest about hell, this has always made everyone
curious about how the world will end.

Analysis:
Fire and ice is a nine-line poem that has an alternating
rhyme between the sound of ABA ABC BCB, it features the
world in the narrators own vision of the world.

“Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice”

This lines describes a disagreement in general society on

the topic about how the world will end, in the modern
sense, fire and ice could mean “Nuclear disaster” and
“Climate Change”. Fire and ice is a metaphoric decision that
allow different kinds of interpretation.

“From what I’ve tasted and desire

I hold with those who favor fire”
Name: Angelica Deza
Year&Section: BSED-2A

The speaker provides his own opinion, he equates fire with

desire, which is to suggest that it equals to passion with
greed and rage, Fire is used as a metaphor for strong and
deep emotions, it is a fitting analogy to a fireplace, which
can be seen as someone’s warmth and light, however the
fire also means destruction that could lead worlds
irrevocable path.

“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.”

As close opposite to a burning desires, the speaker sees as being

dangerous, the ice is concern in their mind. He believes that the world will
burn in one form or the other, if it didn’t and the fire wasn’t enough the
ice could manage to the feat as well, opposite to the burning flame, the
freezing ice represents hatred, he thinks that it is something that would
chill the world, slow it down and isolate individual enough that human
race could not survive, for ice “would suffice”, it tends to believe that the
destructive power of desire, he sees no reason to believe that hate
couldn’t end the world.

“Some says the world will end fire

Some says in ice.”
-Rhyming scheme, ABA ABC BCB
“I hold with those who favour fire”
-Assonance is a repetition of vowel sounds in same line.
“favour Fire” “World Will”
-Alliteration is the repetition of a consonant sounds at the start of two or
more closely placed words

“Some say the world will end in fire”

-Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving five senses

“Fire and Ice”

-Personification is to give human qualities to inanimate objects

“From what I’ve tasted and desire

Name: Angelica Deza
Year&Section: BSED-2A

I hold with those who favor fire”

-Enjambment is defined as the thought or clause that does not come to
an end at a line break, rather it moves over to the next.

Analysis:

The play of passion is a medieval play. It was performed in the church.

It represents the life of Jesus Christ from his birth to his crucifixion. This
shows the element of suffering.
"What is our life" is Raleigh’s comment on the transience of life, similar
to Shakespeare's sentiment that we are all merely players on a stage for
a brief time, a metaphor repeated by Raleigh when he says that our life
is "a play of passion," an allusion to medieval passion plays about the
sufferings of Christ before his crucifixion.  Raleigh’s tone is, of course,
much more light-hearted than that of a passion play, but there is a
tenuous connection.
Raleigh uses a mother's womb as a metaphor for our preparation for
life--"where we are dressed"--which, unfortunately, is "this short
comedy."  The concept of life as comedy is not meant to suggest that all
ends happily but refers to Raleigh’s belief that our lives are essentially
meaningless, and certainly short, and are therefore not meant to be
taken too seriously.
While we live, "Heaven," a metaphor for God, looks on and renders
judgment on our behavior, particularly on those who "doth act amiss,"
but Raleigh has nothing meaningful to say about how we conduct our
lives because he immediately moves us to the graveyard and our
Name: Angelica Deza
Year&Section: BSED-2A

graves.  With some graveyard humor, Raleigh points out that graves
have a useful purpose: to save us from sunburn.
The metaphor of life as drama (or comedy) is carried through the last
three lines in which graves become the curtains on a stage that come
down when the play is over.  All that is left for us, the players in this
brief comedy, is to die "in earnest," that is, really die, not just "die" on
the stage exhibiting some poor acting.
Even though Raleigh uses a common metaphor for life, a play, his tone
is humorous and light throughout, which befits a comedy, and we are
meant to understand that life is like a play, a diversion, that is very short
and relatively insignificant.

Sound Devices:
 The poet uses a regular rhyme scheme. It follows this pattern aa bb cc
dd ee. This rhyme creates a natural easy flow of sound. It reflects the
monotony of life. This regularity of the rhyme scheme shows the
inevitability of death. Death represents the normal course of nature. The
rhyme is smooth. It shows that life is short and monotonous. He uses a
lot of sound devices. This is one of the characteristics of the Petrarchan
school. There is an alliteration in "A play of Passion" due to the
repetition of the /p/ sound. It intensifies the musical effect and creates
unity among words. It draws the reader's attention to the central image
of the poem. The poet compares man's life to a short comedy. This
shows that he belittles man's life and existence. There is alliteration in
"mirth" and "music" due to the repetition of the /m/ sound. It shows
that man's happiness is short and disturbed by long periods of suffering.

Intentions:
 The poet, here, deals with a universal issue. He is objective. He draws
the reader's attention to a significant issue which shows the brevity of
earthly life. He belittles life and shows its unworthiness. He compares
man's life to a short comedy. He means that life has all elements of
acting. Human beings are seen like actors who perform certain roles.
This shows that he looks down upon earthly life. The only difference
between play acting and life is death. Death is the only inevitable fact.
Thus, he shows that man's life is transient because every human being
is destined to die one day.

Tone:
Name: Angelica Deza
Year&Section: BSED-2A

 The tone of this poem is serious. The poet expresses his sense of
bitterness. He shows how short and unworthy man's life is. He draws
the reader's attention to the fact of death and the brevity of life. He
confirms that death is inevitable. Moreover, man's life is considered to
be short period of suffering and pain. Furthermore, the poet undermines
and belittles man's life because it is short and transient

Diction:
 In his poem, Walter Raleigh uses rhetorical language. He opens his
poem with a rhetorical question. It shows   a sense of wondering. The
poet wonders about the nature of man's life. This rhetorical question
involves the reader into the subject and draws his attention to the poet's
idea. The poet wants to show the meaning of life. He sheds light on the
fact of death and the brevity of our life. The rhetorical question shows
that the poet belittles man's life because it is short and transient. The
word "division" shows that man's happiness is short and temporary. The
word "short" shows the brevity of the earthly life. Man's life is transient
because every human being is destined to die. The word "judicious" and
"sharp" show God's justice and good sense. He confirms that God is
restrict and accurate. He does not interfere in man's action and deeds.
He only watches the human beings and records their deeds. There is
inversion in "sharp spectator is". The adjective precedes verb to be. The
poet uses this inversion for the sake of the rhyme scheme. It also draws
the reader's attention to God's justice and accuracy. The word "only"
draws the reader's attention to the difference between the play acting
and the real life. The poet shows that death is an inevitable fact. Death
is the only difference between real life and play acting. The phrase
"latest rest" symbolizes death. Death is considered man's eternal and
ultimate rest.