Explain the figures of speech in the poem the cold within
Answers
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Write in details the following literal devices used in the poem.
. Style/ Form
'The Cold Within' is a parable/didactic poem.
. Structure
It has 8 quatrains (8 stanzas with 4 lines each).
. Rhyming scheme
The rhyme scheme used in the poem is 'abcb'.
. Symbolism
Bleak and bitter cold – harsh societal conditions
Dying fire – the eradication of human compassion and fraternity
Log of wood – the hope of survival
Holding back log - holding evil/sin
Cold within - negative feelings towards humanity; lack of warmth, hard-heartedness, self-centredness and inability to reach out to others
Cold without - atmospheric cold
. Figures of Speech
Visual imagery
(1) "For, of the faces round the fire,"
(2) "The next man looking çross the way"
(3) "The third one sat in tattered clothes.
He gave his coat a hitch".
(4) "In dark and bitter cold."
Metaphor
"Giving only to those who gave
Was how he played the game".
In the preceding lines, life is compared to a game. The last man would give something to one who could give him something in return. This is how he played the game of life.
Alliteration
"In bleak and bitter cold."
The alphabet 'b' is repeated in 'bleak' and 'bitter'.
Personification
(1) "Their dying fire in need of logs."
Fire is given the human quality of 'dying'.
(2) "Their logs held tight in death's still hands"
‘Death’ is here personified with the human quality of ‘still hands’.
Oxymoron
"The last man of the forlorn group"
'Forlorn group' is a pair of contradictory terms. This phrase is ironic as it refers to these six people, who are sitting together in a group and are sad and lonely.
Irony
"They didn’t die from the cold without
They died from the cold within."
The final lines abound with Irony. We realize it was not the cold weather outside that really killed the group after all, it was the cold in their hearts, the lack of warm human spirits — the cold within.