Background of poem coldwithin
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This is from my book, you can refer to it
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Kinney writes in the poem:
Six humans trapped by happenstance
In bleak and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood
Or so the story’s told. ( The Cold Within )
Though the dying fire required logs the first white man refused to use his log as he noticed a black moor in the group. Kinney mentions:
Their dying fire in need of logs
The first man held his back.
For of the faces round the fire
He noticed one was black. ( The Cold Within )

The second man saw a non-Christian in that group that restrained him too. Also, the third poor man rejected to share his log. As well as he hated the rich in the group and so also did the rich man in return. Same was the black man’s reaction. Consequently, the last forlorn man also did not use his log as he never did anything without gain. As a result, all the six died due to lack of logs in the fire. All of these men, therefore, symbolize the entire humankind and the logs in their hands are the allegorical representation of their virtues which they kept unused:
Their logs held tight in death’s still hands
Was proof of human sin.
They didn’t die from the cold without
They died from the cold within. ( The Cold Within )
In brief, Kinney shows through this allegorical poem that coldness of the human heart, their selfishness leads them to utter doom. People often forget to save one’s own self while trying to harm others. The six characters of the story dealt with in this poem were so busy in maintaining their prejudices regarding caste, color, creed or class that they led towards their own death. The poet says that it’s not the cold without that led those men to death. Rather, he says, the coldness in their heart did so. If people show benevolence, generosity, and compassion to each other they might be able to save themselves in situations of distress
Six humans trapped by happenstance
In bleak and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood
Or so the story’s told. ( The Cold Within )
Though the dying fire required logs the first white man refused to use his log as he noticed a black moor in the group. Kinney mentions:
Their dying fire in need of logs
The first man held his back.
For of the faces round the fire
He noticed one was black. ( The Cold Within )

The second man saw a non-Christian in that group that restrained him too. Also, the third poor man rejected to share his log. As well as he hated the rich in the group and so also did the rich man in return. Same was the black man’s reaction. Consequently, the last forlorn man also did not use his log as he never did anything without gain. As a result, all the six died due to lack of logs in the fire. All of these men, therefore, symbolize the entire humankind and the logs in their hands are the allegorical representation of their virtues which they kept unused:
Their logs held tight in death’s still hands
Was proof of human sin.
They didn’t die from the cold without
They died from the cold within. ( The Cold Within )
In brief, Kinney shows through this allegorical poem that coldness of the human heart, their selfishness leads them to utter doom. People often forget to save one’s own self while trying to harm others. The six characters of the story dealt with in this poem were so busy in maintaining their prejudices regarding caste, color, creed or class that they led towards their own death. The poet says that it’s not the cold without that led those men to death. Rather, he says, the coldness in their heart did so. If people show benevolence, generosity, and compassion to each other they might be able to save themselves in situations of distress
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