Fire and Ice

) Carefully read the following poem by American poet 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.

Using Frost's poem as a starting point, discuss the symbols of fire and ice in Dante's Inferno. Where does he employ each and for what purpose? How does each symbol relate to Dante's overall plan in designing his hell? [NOTE : Make sure that you have read all of Circle 9 before answering this question.]


In Dante's Inferno there are multiple sins, each with a different punishment. The greater the sin, the lower you are in hell. Sometimes Dante's arrangement of hell can be confusing as he puts the fortune tellers and hypocrites below murderers. The reason for this is because Dante believes sins of reason are worse than those of passion. This belief is based on Aristotle's Ethica Nicomanchea/" Have you forgotten how your Ethics reads, those terms it explicates in such detail: the three conditions that the heavens hate,incontinence, malice, and bestiality,"(59). The heavens see these three things as sins but incontincence is the least punishable. The souls in the beginning of hell let passion sway their reason such as the hoarders and the gluttons. The souls at the end of hell like the flatters, the hypocrites, and thieves use there reason to decieve people making them use the gift of reason in the wrong way. The souls who are higher up in hell are punished with fire for fire represents feeling and emotion. The souls in the bottom of hell are punished with ice because they are cold and emotionless and also have cold intellegence. The lifelessness of the souls in circle 9 is part of their punishment/ " their eyes,which had before been only glazed, dripped tears down to their lips, and the cold froze the tears.."( 175). Tears are symbolic of life and feeling. Frozen tears indicates there souls can not have feeling or show people their feelings. They are numbed from the cold like they were numb to the emotions of others in life.
Frost's poem, relates directly to the inferno using fire and ice to symbolize the punishments of Dante's Hell. More interestingly the poem has nine lines, whereas Dante's hell has nine circles. Frost parallels desire and hate saying they are both destructive characteristics. The major theme of the poem is that human emotions are destructive when used in the wrong way as Dante also proves with his hell.
Frost's poem can be interpreted many different ways. Just as a slightly interesting ( and cheesy) side note,at the opening of Stephanie Meyer's eclipse, Bella says Robert Frost's poem."Some say the world will end in fire some say in ice." This represents her struggle with choosing Jacob or Edward.




^ just a visual with the poem to help understand