Fire and Ice

Narrative voice plays a significant role in “Fire and Ice.” The speaker’s speech patterns convey emotion and attitude, and line lengths and word choice contribute to this conveyance. The poem opens with a line consisting of eight words: “Some say the world will end in fire” (Line 1). It is the poem’s longest line. The second line utilizes only four words: “Some say in ice” (Line 2). Lines 3, 5, and 6 utilize six words in each line, and Line 4 uses seven words. These longer lines are “sandwiched” in between the beginning’s short lines and the ending’s short lines, which makes readers focus on the central portion of the poem. These longer lines also help readers access the speaker’s thought process and decision-making process. The poem ends with two blunt, short lines: “Is also great / And would suffice” (Lines 8-9). The speaker uses the word “suffice,” saying that ice would also be a sufficient, maybe even a just way for the world to end. The final lines use three words each, and this style “clips” the ending, signaling to readers that the speaker has reached a conclusion. The brevity of these lines and the clipped way the speaker says them creates a swiftness that ties into the two extremes (the fire and the ice) the speaker uses without consideration for an alternative. This brevity mimics humanity’s impulsiveness, which often leads to poor decisions and, on a larger scale, chaos. The final line’s brevity also contributes to the poem’s suggestion that the world’s end will be quick rather than slow.