Questions to consider:
- What characterizes the follow poems as part of realism?
- "Acquainted with the Night" is written in iambic pentameter and is 14 lines like a sonnet. However, it is not about love like most sonnets. What do you think Frost's intention in doing this was?
- What are the connotations (meaning and/or feelings associated with "fire" and "ice") and denotations (actual definition of the words "fire" and "ice") of "fire" and "ice" in the second poem?
Acquainted with the Night
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
A luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
Fire and Ice
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.
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.
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour 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.
The poems have aspects of realism because we can either relate to them, or find a way to relate.
ReplyDeleteThe second question can be answered in many
ways. I think that Frost wanted to create a sonnet that didn't have a recurring theme like a lot of the others
The last question is unique, because someone's interpretation of the poem Fire and Ice can be completely different from someone else. The feelings I felt were devious, melodramatic, but also a bit evil.
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ReplyDeleteI Totally Agree With Garry This Poem Has Many Different Meanings.!
ReplyDelete~Brianna M.
garry, i think the poem is more about whats gonna happen if the world end but in reality no one knows whats actually gonna happen when the world ends. If you imagine the world as being fire or ice both of them are kinda alike. And the poem did have some aspects of realism because you can actually imagine something like that happening, the world ending in ice and fire i mean but its also hard to realate because no one aspects the worlod to end for a million years or so. by:Genovia Milbourne
ReplyDelete-Espana.C-
ReplyDeleteGenovia, I agree w/you very much
Fire and Ice
ReplyDeleteThis poem is showing realism because our emotions are related to the elements. To answer question 3, fire is connected to passion,desire, determination. Ice is connected to hate,anger,emptiness. These two are opposites but in the poem they state the same purpose to bring the world to an end. If it ended in fire then everyone would be kinda greedy because it everyone gets what they want. If it ends in ice then it will be a lonely place, where everyone hates each other, having wars between one another. I think today has a mixture of both, you have people who hate each other and people who love each other.
By: Michael
Garry, I agree with you in which people do have different aspects how the world is going to end. 'Fire & Ice' did have aspects of realism on because everyone has a side to choose based on their beliefs and values. However the world perishing twice is kind of romantic and it can not end in both ways. -Carlos Norwood
ReplyDeleteGenovia, it seems that you could be right and it does have a sad mood where the poem brings some strong feeling of depression. Or it can mean that this person that is speaking have had a rough life and been through many trial and error resulting that he had gain nothing and can do nothing about his failures. In short he could be dead and regretfully died and a poem is written somehow some way. Or rather that this person is actually poor and that he had also failed somewhere in life, but when he heard someone calling they weren’t call for him. -Richard Li
ReplyDelete@Garry: You are correct in that both poems are characterized by realism. Frost is not romantic at all. I can especially relate to his honesty in describing loneliness in the first poem.
ReplyDelete@Michael: Great analysis! I think that the fact that Frost does not offer a peaceful end to the world also is realism. Frost does not romanticize the way we will come to an end. He believes that people have faults, and that these faults will lead to our downfall.
Thanks for those who agree. I believe that poems do not have to have the same themes oner and over again. Robert Frost deomnstrated that time and time again in his poems.
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