2007-09-13T04:22:00.000-07:00

Fire and Ice

Part 1: I chose this poem for two reasons. First of all, I have always enjoyed anything I have read by Robert Frost. Secondly, the poem is short and mostly straightforward. Even the first time I read it, I felt as though I understood any underlying meanings. It only takes a few words to say a lot, and it did not take me long to dissect.

Part 2: I loved the imagery in this poem, and there are two main images which are both equally important. Frost discusses how the world will end, and he offers two choices, which are opposites: “…in fire,/Some say in ice.” Fire is a metaphor for desire, which he mentions in the third line, and this would be his favorite choice. The other is ice, and it is a metaphor for hate. He is familiar with both, and each is extremely destructive in one way or another.
The idea of desire being painful brought me to the conclusion of unrequited love or the passion for something that cannot be attained. He is clearly familiar with desire when he mentions that, “From what I’ve tasted of desire/I hold with those who favor fire.” An interesting thought about desire is that it sounds hopeful, and it does not shut others out. In fact, desire and passion brings people closer together, or rather, melds, if you will. Fire burns and melts things slowly, just as desire can eat away at one’s mind. I also feel as though longing is something more personal and more individual, and because of this, people can connect and have a better understanding of one another. Yet although it could bring people together on some level, it can wear people down individually. It is quite an unfortunate ending, but would ice be better?
Ice is Frost’s second choice, and it represents hatred. As I looked more closely at ice as an image, I thought about how hatred is what tears people apart; I think that ice is an excellent representation of that. Ice is so easily broken, and could symbolize disconnection between individuals. Unlike fire, ice is broken apart quickly, just as quickly as hatred can be established. Another key characteristic of ice is that once it is cracked and broken into pieces, it is not so easily put back together. Desire has a light of hope behind it, whereas hatred feels final. Hate also seems somewhat impersonal, and more so directed at a large group of people rather than dealing with just one individual, like desire does. Frost also mentions towards the end of the poem that, “ice/Is also great/And would suffice.” The word “great” in this would mean “powerful”, and it would “do the job” if the world really were to end.
It seems that Frost wants the reader to take a look at the big picture, and look at the problems in the world. These problems are both individual and global, and perhaps we need to work together and change our way of life if we want to save ourselves from destruction. Clearly, it has made me do a lot of thinking, so perhaps less is more after all.

2007-09-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

Ode on a Grecian Urn

Part 1: I am not quite sure why I chose this poem, considering Kubla Khan is just as interesting. However, I thoroughly enjoyed Keats' poem, and I loved the way it was divided into chunks, which were different parts of the story that both he and (I suppose) the urn told. Something that I found interesting was the title itself, and that the speaker considers the story on the urn to be an “ode”, or a story to be sung. It is even mentioned early on in the poem that, “heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard/Are sweeter”. I liked the way that was written, and the idea that the pictures tell more than words would, (if I am translating it correctly).

Part 2: The speaker of this poem is unraveling the story painted or etched into a Grecian urn, and the story itself gives a brief history of the time. It takes place in ancient Greece, most likely in “Tempe or the dales of Arcady”, which is mentioned in the first segment of the poem. In the very beginning, the speaker expresses his love for the urn and its beauty and history: “A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme./What leaf-fring’d legend haunts about thy shape…”. Although the illustrations are ancient, the story they tell will never grow old and always remains beautiful, as it tells of humans, gods, and events.
In the second part of the poem, our speaker addresses a number of ideas as he asks about the people and deities depicted on the urn. The first part of the history on the urn discusses love, which although makes the characters appear joyous, they are also doomed. The “Bold Lover” cannot be with the one he loves, and it seems as though he is at a distance when Keats says, “She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,/For ever wilt though love, and she be fair.” Even though he has happy thoughts of her beauty, he is yet passionate and melancholy because his love goes unrequited. After the story of doomed love, the speaker then goes on to address the religious aspects of the time period and the people. The scene takes place at a “green alter”, where the townspeople are about to sacrifice a cow to the gods. The town below has emptied, and it is a peaceful atmosphere as the people go to worship. He also adds more description of the town and the general area around it. Clearly, this particular location means a great deal to the speaker, and he seems to worship the place just by itself. It seems as though he wants to be a part of this ancient world.
In the very last segment of Keats’ poem, he adds a few more comments on the pictures represented on the urn, and once again mentions its beauty. But more important than the beauty of the illustrations is the age of the illustrations and the things depicted. The scenes he described are timeless and perfect. The speaker says in the last stanza, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,--that is all/Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” He is looking into the basic aspects of this place and the stories it tells. Perhaps we can find the most meaning and beauty in the simplest of things.

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