One of the most basic human instincts is survival, avoiding death whenever possible. What is it about death that people are afraid of? The thought of leaving things undone, leaving their loved ones behind scare a lot of people. Even though death is a scary subject, it has been an inspiration for many poetic works. Many poets have had personal experiences that inspired them to write about their own mortality and insignificance. However some people have different views on how they should approach death. Dylan Thomas displays his belief of fighting off death in "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night,"" in contrast to "Fire and Ice- and "Out Out "" which displays Robert Frost's belief in accepting death. Death is an inevitable event, therefore the only thing people can do is approach it. .
In Robert Frost's poem, "Fire and Ice,"" he uses the imagery of fire and ice as ways to kill a human being and the end of the world. In the first two lines, "Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice."" From this, one can interpret this line as Robert Frost's opinion on how the world would end. In the Bible, the world is supposed to be consumed in an inferno when the prophecy of the second coming of Christ is fulfilled. Frost would later relate fire with the human emotion; desire. This comparison hints that Frost views desire as a fire that consumes and destroys. "I think I know enough of hate/to say that for destruction ice is also great,""(Line 6-7) When Frost says the world will end in ice, one possible explanation for could be tied to the first Great War. Europe was engulfed in fire from the war, causing much destruction. After the war, Europe suffered through a harsh winter, and the ice caused even more destruction and harm. Frost also relates ice to hatred, which he hints that hate makes a person cold and unmoving. It can also be interpreted that ice makes things cold and brittle, making it easier to break under a certain amount of pressure.
