When Hatred comes full circle: A comparision of “Fire and Ice” and “A Poison Tree”

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“Desire” and “Hate” are have seemingly unrelated meanings. One means an intense longing or want, while the other means an intense dislike or distaste. However, when Robert Frost's “Fire and Ice” and William Blake's “A Poison Tree” take a closer look at what defines these two words, desire and hate are found to be interconnected. “Fire and Ice” discusses the ideas that the world will end from fire, and that it will end from ice. “A Poison Tree” examines the growth of a small seed of spite that grows into a malignant tree of evil thoughts which kills the foe, physically or mentally, by the end of the poem. In “Fire and Ice” and “A Poison Tree”, Frost and Blake make use of constrasting metaphors, references to nature, and allusions to the Bible to enhance the common themes of desire and hate.
In “Fire and Ice”, Robert Frost makes a clear distinction between desire and hate. The duality of each emotion and element is expressed when the speaker mentions “[having] tasted desire” and “[holding] with those who favor fire” (3, 4), as well as “ [knowing] enough about hate to say that for destruction ice [would do]” (6, 7). In “A Poison Tree” by William Blake, the speaker describes a tree of hate grown from a smaller incident. Blake contrasts life and death as well as the title through the the tree of hate. The place where the tree of hate was grown is also the resting place of the speaker's foe, which shows the opposing ideas of life and death. The title is an ironic juxtaposition of the tree, a symbol of vitality and life, and poison, a symbol of death and ailments.
Frost also references the Bible through the idea of Armageddon. Parts of the Old Testament as well as the New Testament mention “God's Wrath” in various forms, such as h...

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... and body of many, bringing destruction along with it. Hate, on the other hand, is portrayed as a initally passive and emotionless feeling that slowly crystalizes the heart, until the whole thing freezes over and shatters, also bringing destruction along with it. These two poems, “Fire and Ice” and “A Poison Tree” suggest that hate and desire are two opposite, yet inseperatable emotions. Where one goes, the other tends to follow. Desire and hate start off small, then escalate quickly. If the problem is addressed earlier on, the whole situtation could be avoided. It starts with every single person gradually addressing their own negative thoughts and ideas. It is the duty of the indiviual to take a step back to think, then address the problem, or else no one will notice it until these two monsters rear their ugly heads and destroy everyone and everything around it.

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