Fill the blank with one word :
In the line "But if it has to perish twice", 'it' refers to the __.
Fill the blank with one word :
In the line "But if it has to perish twice", 'it' refers to the __.
Official answer
world — 'it' refers back to 'the world', named explicitly in the poem's first line ('Some say the world will end in fire').
Marking scheme
- 1.1 mark: correct one-word answer — 'world' (accept 'the world').
Hint
Look at the first line of the poem — 'it' consistently refers back to the same noun introduced there.
Quick oral answer
'It' refers to the world, as introduced in the poem's opening line, 'Some say the world will end in fire.'
Common mistakes
- 1.Writing 'ice' or 'fire' as the answer instead of 'world' — students confuse the destructive agents (fire/ice) with the object being destroyed (the world).
- 2.Giving a full sentence instead of the single required word, losing marks for not following the fill-in-the-blank instruction.
Analysis and explanation
This is a straightforward pronoun-reference question tracking 'it' back to its antecedent in the poem's opening line.
Concept
- 'It' throughout the poem consistently refers to 'the world', named in line 1: 'Some say the world will end in fire'
- 'Perish twice' means a second, hypothetical end of the world (this time by ice)
Common Mistakes
- Confusing 'it' with 'fire' or 'ice' themselves, rather than with 'the world' that fire/ice threaten to destroy
Interesting facts
The word 'it' appears three times in the poem's nine lines, and in every instance it refers back to 'the world' named in line 1 — a deliberate stylistic economy typical of Frost's concise verse.
Frost's original manuscript draft of 'Fire and Ice' was even shorter in early revisions, showing how carefully he pared the poem down to its essential nine lines before publication in 1920.
Question details
Q38 of 72 questions
- Board
- CBSE
- Class
- Class 10
- Subject
- English (Language & Literature)
- Year
- 2026
- Section
- Section C
- Marks
- 1
- Type
- Fill in the Blank
- Chapter
- Fire and Ice (First Flight)
- Topic
- Fire and Ice — Reference to Context
- Bloom's level
- remember
- Syllabus topic
- First Flight — Poem: Fire and Ice (Robert Frost) — Reference/Comprehension of Lines
- Author
- CBSE
- Reviewed by
- Padhantu Academic Team
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Frequently asked questions
What does 'it' refer to in the line 'But if it has to perish twice'?
'It' refers to the world, which the poet introduces in the poem's very first line, 'Some say the world will end in fire.'
What does 'perish twice' mean in the poem?
It refers to the poet's hypothetical second scenario in which the world ends a second time — this time by ice (hatred) rather than fire (desire).