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Fire and Ice
Robert Frost · 1920; collected 1923
Catalog grade guidance: 6–12 — Nine short lines; the ideas about desire and hate reward older readers.
9 content lines · 52 words · Est. recitation about 29 sec (approx.)
Public-domain text for reading and recitation practice. Source: Robert Frost, New Hampshire: A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes (New York: Henry Holt, 1923), first edition, Grace Notes, p. 80 (Internet Archive page images, leaf n94); cross-checked with Project Gutenberg #58611.Estimated time uses ~120 words/minute plus short pauses—not a contest rule.
Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor 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.