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.- Robert Frost

In Robert Frost’s poem, Fire and Ice, he talks about the destruction and the devastation of fire and ice. He wrote this poem with an inspiration from Dante’s Inferno. Dante uses fire and ice as punishments in hell. Fire is seen not immediately, but is first seen in circle six with the burning tombs, again in round three of circle seven, and in bolgia three, seven, and eight. Ice is not used though until the ninth circle where Satan is.

            Although when a person thinks of hell, the first thought is fire, fire is not shown until the sixth circle and four more time. In the Inferno fire is used to inflict pain upon the sinners. Although the fire usually has nothing to do with the contrapasso, it is a significant part of hell and the punishment. This point of view of fire is shown in circle seven round three, “You are made to suffer as much fire inside as falls upon you” (113). Dante is showing how they suffer from the fire upon them, yet it has nothing to do with their sin of violence against nature. Yet to Dante fire is not the worst punishment, it is ice.

            Ice is seen as a bad punishment in the Inferno because it does not appear until the ninth circle, the worst circle of all. Also he places Satan in ice. It is weird because ice is the last thing thought of when Hell is brought up, yet it seems to be very harmful in Fire and Ice and the Inferno. In the ninth circle the sinners are trapped in ice, most crying. Dante finds this disturbing and sad how they are being punished so harshly, “I saw staring back from their four faces the terror and the wasting of my own, I bit my hands in helpless grief” (271). Dante cannot stand to watch these people in so much pain. He hears the people talk about the pain, “Father, it would give us much less pain if you ate us: it was you who put upon us this sorry flesh, now strip it off again” (272). The people are talking to Jesus, asking Him to spare them. This praying in Hell shows how much suffering the people undergo with just their heads in ice.

            Dante and Robert Frost make ice sound detrimental to a person or soul. Even though Frost says he would support fire, he also sees ice as destructive.  In the Inferno the ice is the worst possible punishment while fire is just sometimes seen as a hurtful substance. These symbols show that Dante believes that fire is a medium punishment and ice is the worst punishment in the set up of his poem.

*For More Info about the relationship of Fire and Ice and the Inferno: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_and_Ice_%28poem%29