Introduction to Fire and Ice Class 10 English
Syllabus of Class 10 English has been designed in such a way as to develop their reading, writing and speaking skills as well. The syllabus includes grammar to improve their concept of English on one side and on the other side a colorful literature with novels, plays, short stories and poems also. Majority of these are by English authors of international origin. These novels and poems are sure to grow your love for this subject. Poems of many great poets have been included in the syllabus. One of them is Robert Frost. He was an American poet but his works were first acclaimed and published in England. Later in the United States. His poems are based either on nature or on human nature and humanity. In fact though he is mainly considered as a poet of nature actually his majority poems reflect human nature in a traditional way. In Class 10 CBSE syllabus one of his poems named Fire and Ice also reflects the nature of humans. A very common nature of humans is desire. Desire for power mainly and the ultimate result of such greed is their destruction either by fire or by ice. He used simple words to convey this message to his readers.
Vedantu has always helped the students in all subjects and also in English. The expert teachers of English in Vedantu have prepared the summary of the poem so that the students can understand the philosophy and deep meaning of the poem. This summary can help the students to understand the poem in the exact manner as the poet has wanted to convey. Vedantu has also provided a set of questions and answers for the students who can practice them and improve their skills in English.
Summary of Fire and Ice Class 10 English
History is evidence of the downfall of many civilizations due to wars. Wars are the effect of hatred, greed and the never-ending desires of the human race. Robert Frost, one of the eminent poets, had perceived that humans will be responsible for their own catastrophe. They will be annihilated from the surface of the earth because of their negative emotions controlled by greed and hatred.
The poet is sure of the destruction of the human race. He is sure that it will happen very soon. The nature of humans makes them weaker and they fall prey to the hands of greed, hatred and desire. The more they get, the more they want. They also want what others have. This unending desire is lethal for the future of humans. A time will come when the entire race will cease to exist as humans will destroy themselves using fire or ice.
The evil desires will control humans to make and launch destructive weapons against each other. A humongous fire will engulf the entire race, killing everyone and making earth sane again. According to the Short Summary of Fire and Ice Class 10 English, the poet has found a remarkable similarity between the fire of evil desires and hatred and the fire that destroys life.
He also depicts another reason for the destruction of the human race. He believes that the world created by humans will be destroyed by ice someday. Ice is compared as an uncompassionate feeling of the humans for each other. Nobody cares about what is happening in the world because of their self-centeredness. It seems that the ice of these evil emotions has made humans go numb. They fail to feel any warmth and are slowly losing the hope to survive without knowing it. Humans act cruelly against each other and do not think twice before imparting harm.
In this poem, the poet perfectly depicts that there are two different types of people existing in the human race. According to the Class 10 English poem Fire and Ice Summary, one section thinks that fate will bring a fiery end to the human race. The other thinks that the entire world will freeze someday. The poet might be describing how the world will end for humans due to their stupid desires and false pride. He might have foreseen that either a raging war will kill every human or an icy death is lurking on everyone’s head. He also describes the immense power humans have developed and displayed that can kill everyone on this planet.
He wants us to wake up from these false dreams and grow more compassionate towards each other. The cold emotions such as greed, hate, unending desires, etc. make us no less than ruthless animals. We behave in an inhuman way and treat others the same. One day, everything will stop existing in the human world but nature will continue thriving. He wanted us to understand that this power to destroy something is worthless. What is the use of such power when it takes lives rather than helping others to thrive? If you study the Class 10 English poem Fire and Ice Summary well, you will find that the poet has expressed regret in the lines of this poem.
FAQs on Fire and Ice Summary
1. What Are the Ways the Human Race Will Be Destroyed?
According to Fire and Ice Summary Class 10 English, the human race has created raging fire or weapons to destroy. This fire will someday engulf humanity and will wipe out an entire race. On the other hand, he has denoted cold emotions such as hatred, greed, unending desire for power, etc. as ice. If these emotions overcome the warmth, the cause of destruction will be the ice.
2. What Does the Poet Want Us to Do as Per Class 10 English Poem Fire and Ice?
According to the NCERT Class 10 English poem Fire and Ice Summary, a hidden message from the poet wants us to be more compassionate towards each other.
3. What according to the poet will be the reasons for human destruction?
The poet has used the words fire and ice. The poet has used the metaphors fire and ice in his poems to mean the two elements of human destruction in future. According to the poet the growing greed of humans for power and money will ultimately lead to their destruction. They are making weapons of destruction which he referred to as fire for the sake of their greed but they do not understand that these weapons or fire will ultimately engulf them and destroy them. On the other side he has referred to the cold piercing human emotions of hatred and greed as the ice which will end the human race with these cold emotions. The entire human race will cease to exist if it does not control its greed for power either by the fire of weapons or by the cold and numbness of the human emotions.
4. Who was Robert Frost?
Robert Frost was a great poet from America and often referred to as the modern poet though he has given importance to traditional ways of representation in his poems. His works were first published in England then in the United States and finally to other corners of the world. He has always focused on human relations, emotions, rural life and humanity in his poems. However many refer to him as the poet of nature because his few poems about nature have also created lasting impressions in English literature. He was a great poet and received Pulitzer Prizes for poetry four times. No other poet in English has ever given so much importance to human values and actions. He was a poet of class.
5. How do school students improve their English?
English is an important language which students should improve from their school level itself. These students can develop and sharpen their reading and writing skills from studying the subject with care and growing the concepts early. They will try to understand the inner meaning of the poems and literature which will not only bring fluency in their expression but also love for the subject. To improve their English they have to study their entire syllabus thoroughly and practice all types of questions given at the end of the chapters. Students can practice writing the questions and summaries of the poems and novels on their own. Apart from studying their course curriculum they can also improve their English by reading story books in leisure time to improve their English.
6. Which other poet’s work is included in the Class 10 syllabus?
CBSE English syllabus for class 10 has been prepared with years’ research and experts have taken great care to design them so as to make a holistic development of the skills in English for the school students. English has been made interesting to them by inclusion of poems of great poets which are bound to increase their love for the subject. Works of famous poets like Leslie Norris, Carlyn Wells, John Berryman, Robin Klein, Walt Whitman, Joyce Kilmer, Ogden Nash, William Butler Yeats and Carl Sandburg. These international poets have won many awards from different countries throughout the world who have used different themes in their poems making the study of poems enjoyable.
7. What is the role of Vedantu in teaching English to Class 10 students?
Vedantu has played a key role in the success of many students of all standards who can get all the teaching resources without traveling regularly to their coaching classes and spending time traveling. Vedantu has provided resourceful study materials in English also. They have provided summaries of all poems, novels and stories in easy simple language for the students. Students can easily download the PDF formats of the study materials from Vedantu website or learning App. They can also get the guidance of subject teachers if they feel they need it. Sample papers with solutions are also available in free PDF which they can download. Such a huge resource for study is always available at your fingertips.