James patrick kinney had commented upon several themes in his poem the cold within. Though written in 1970s it still holds reference with todays world. With reference to the poem comment on this statement
Answers
The Cold Within Poem Theme :-
I. The Cold Within
The cold within refers to the lack of feelings for, or hatred of, others, which is nothing short of a cardinal sin. Many of us develop this coldness in our hearts out of some prejudice. This prejudice may relate to race, colour, caste, religion or region. It makes us mean, stingy, selfish, greedy or unkind.
In the poem The Cold Within’ six persons trapped together in extreme cold somewhere perish because of the one or the other prejudice. The coldness in their hearts rather than the coldness outdoors proves fatal to them. This group of six persons is near the fire which is fast dying. Each one knows that it is only the fire that can make them survive. Each has a stick of wood which can keep the fire burning. Ironically, no one is willing to give up his stick for one reason or the other. The result is their death by cold – the cold within. This is the major theme of the poem. The idea is that the coldness in man’s heart is a kind of death.
II. Holding on to Sins
Another theme of the poem can be : leading a life of sins. The poet shows that each one of us (represented by six ‘humans’) is afflicted with some kind of prejudice or sin (represented by the log of wood in each hand). The most obvious sins are of spite, stinginess, greed, revenge, etc. The poem shows that each person in the unlucky group holds on to his or her stick which should have been given to the dying fire. Had they given up their sticks – their sins – to be consumed by purifying fire, they might have survived, or might have gone to the other world without the burden of their sins. But they preferred to die with their sins in their minds. The poet gives a kind of message or warning to us when he refers to their tragic end :
Their logs held tight in death’s still hands
Was proof of human sin.
They did not die from the cold without
They died from the cold within.
Answer:
The ideas conveyed in the poem- "The cold within" apply totally to today's situation. The poem deals with the futility of hatred or discrimination based on race,class and religion. The discrimination, racism and bigotry proves futile as none of the six people survive by the end