The Cold Within summary and questions and answers
In this assignment, we will try to explain The Cold Within summary and questions and answers in detail. The poem “The Cold Within” by James Patrick Kinney includes 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyming scheme is abcb for all the stanzas. The very first stanza of the poem The cold within reveals a person who has a different prejudice against others around the fire. They all decide to make the same decision and all meet with his tragic end.
The Cold Within summary starts here, accidentally a group is present in a jungle where everyone has held one stick in his hand. They are gathered around the fire. There is too much coldness in the weather. The fire is almost going to end but all of them are not ready to throw their stick in the fire so that the fire remains burning. Actually, they are all greedy, prejudiced, jealous, hypocrites, haters, enemies of humanity, cold-hearted, etc. They have various negative desires in their hearts. They hate one another which is why they are died at the end of the poem. This poem cold within has title significance, its title suggests that man is too much cold-hearted for others. He lives for himself not for others. He has hollowness, shallowness, absurdity, triviality and hypocrisy, this poem also reveals man’s cruelty in him.
So the poem summary and Line by Line explanation start here six people group sit together around the fire. And they hold one stick on his her hand. They are not in the mode to throw the stick into the fire so that the fire continuously remains.
In the second stanza, a white woman considers in her group one of them is a black man if she puts the stick into the fire then this black man will take benefit from this fire. Actually, in critical analysis of the poem it is told about racism, as we know that in Europe black and white man discrimination matter is on the top, especially in America, this discrimination is revealed here.
The third stanza elaborates on religious discrimination can be seen, a man who is definitely a religious man notices that in his group there is a man who is totally strange, perhaps he belongs to another religion or he belongs to that religion that does not belong to him, that is why this man does not throw the stick on the fire because another religion person may take benefit.
In the next, a man who has put wort out and tear off clothes in his body looks too much poor by the physical appearance he has tied up his coat due to coldness, he has also kept a stick in his hand but he is not in the mode to throw out a stick into the fire because he thinks the rich people may take advantage by this.
One of them in this group, there is a man who is wealthy and well-settled, perhaps he is a businessman he is not concentrating on the fire rather he is considering his wealth and also thinks about poor men in his eyes he is extra, lazy burden of food in this world, he considers himself superior to him and he is not agree throw the stick into the fire because his speculations are this poor may take control if he throws the stick into the fire.
The black man in this group is also in the mode of taking revenge he thought, if he throws the stick into the fire then the white man definitely will take advantage of his stick so he also rejects the plan to throw the stick into the fire.