NCERT Class 10 English Chapter 2 Fire and Ice
NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 2 Fire and Ice (poem)
Thinking about the Poem
(Page 15)
Question 1.
There are many ideas about how the world will ‘end’. Do you think the world will end some day? Have you ever thought what would happen if the Sun gets so hot that it ‘bursts’ or grows colder and colder?
Answer:
There are definitely many ideas about how the world will ‘end’. I do believe that the world will end some day as anything that has a beginning will have an end. This stands true for the world also, if the Sun got so hot that it burst, the whole of the Earth would perish immediately as no part of the Earth can bear the heat of that intensity. But if the Sun grew colder and colder, everything will come to an end as without sunlight, life will end.
Question 2.
For Frost, what do ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ stand for? Here are some ideas:
| greed intolerance | avarice rigidity | cruelty insensitivity | lust coldness | conflict indifference | fury hatred |
Answer:
| fire | ice |
| greed, avarice | lust |
| cruelty | insensitivity |
| conflict | coldness |
| fury | indifference |
| intolerance | hatred, rigidity |
Question 3.
What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? How does it help in bringing out the contrasting ideas in the poem?
Answer:
The rhyme scheme of the poem is- a b a a b c b c b
This rhyme scheme helps in bringing out the contrasting ideas of ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ presented in the poem. The poet mentions that both fire and ice are probable ends of this world. He talks about how fire represents desire and can therefore be a cause of the end of the world. Frost also mentions ice in between to symbolise that the coldness and indifference towards one another will be enough to end the world. In the second stanza, he says that he knows of enough hate in the world to be sure that even destruction through ice . would be sufficient to bring about the end of the world.
Extra Questions and Answers
Reference-to-Context Questions
Read the stanza given below and answer the questions that follow:
Question 1.
Some say the world will end in fire
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.
(a) The above stanza debates whether the world will end in
Answer:
fire or ice
(b) Both the elements mentioned in the first stanza have one similarity i.e. both can
Answer:
end the world
(c) The poet favours those who believe that fire would cause final destruction. (True/False)
Answer:
True
(d) The word that rhymes with ‘fire’ is
Answer:
desire
Question 2.
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.
(a) ‘Ice’ in the above stanza refers to feelings of ………..
Answer:
coldness/hatred
(b) Both ice and fire will be enough for ………..
Answer:
destruction
(c) The poet wishes that the world should end twice. (True/False)
Answer:
False
(d) Pick up the antonym of ‘inadequate’ from the above stanza.
Answer:
‘suffice’.
Long Answer Question
Question 1.
It is a Hobson’s Choice that the poet faces in the poem ‘Fire and Ice’. Illustrate this thought, with the help of examples from the poem.
Answer:
The poem talks about the end of the world by fire, which symbolizes greed in humanity. Others feel that the end will come about by ice, which symbolizes hate. Thus humanity faces a choice which is really no choice, because the end result is destruction in both cases. The choices are illustrated on a personal level, as both of them affect individual destruction equally.
The poet uses a tight and clipped method of presenting the choices to emphasize the importance of his message of there being no alternatives. The theme of the poem, based on destruction through greed and hatred, illustrates the proverb Hobson’s Choice, gives the poem a profound and meaningful undercurrent.