Fire and Ice ~ 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 - Robert Frost

This poem is designed to be easily understood and uses words with broader meanings than what might be picked up on first glance. Fire, ice, and desire are all words that are applicable to more than than just their literal definitions. This not just leaves more room for interpretation but lends deeper meaning to the seemingly direct poem. By attaching fire with desire, and ice with hate, the speaker implies that the two ways that the world is to end are both as a result of the human condition. Continuing with that, the narrator is referring to extremes. Fire and ice are opposites. Fire representing an excess of passion and conflict while ice represents a lack of. The world ending from one or the other signifies imbalance. Regardless of how it ends, imbalance will be the ultimate cause as an excess anything is destructive.