paraphrase the cold within
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Paraphrase the poem The Cold Within.
Stanza 1
The poet recounts the tale of six humans who met by coincidence and gripped in severely cold winter. Each of them has a single stick of wood. The use of individuals rather than a group means they are brought together by fate than their own free will.
Stanza 2
The second stanza depicts a fire running out of fuel and in need to wood to burn. In the cold winter, heat from the fire is critical to keep their bodies warm. All of them can survive if they use their stick one by one.
It is time to come together. But the first person abstains from using it because it will benefit a black person too. Even at the cost of her harm, she refuses to use the stick. That is the evil of racism.
Stanza 3
The second person sees someone who has different religious views than him. Therefore, he refuses to use his stick too. This shows religious intolerance and prejudice of faith.
This exhibits how consumed people can be in their thoughts about others who have different views. They would willingly cause self-harm than bring any benefit to others.
Stanza 4
Now we move to the third person who comes from a poor background as he is wearing torn and worn-out clothes. He evens tugs his cloth a bit tighter because he is feeling severely cold.
He carries spite against people who are rich and well-off. So he also refuses to use his stick to warm their bodies with his minimal means.
Stanza 5
Opposite to the poor man, we come to the rich now. He is proud of his wealth and only worried about keeping his wealth safe from the poor. He keeps his stick away from the poor, who he considers lazy.
Stanza 6
Now the chance falls to the black man, a victim of racism. But he is full of ill-will against his oppressors. In his desire for vengeance, he is willing to let the fire die out. He is ready to perish as long as the people who abused him suffer too.
Stanza 7
Now the poet passes judgment over the group for the first time as he calls the last man selfish and opportunistic. He was not generous to people. He thought if the others are not contributing to the dying fire, why should I either. The poet calls this cycle of refusal to help others and take the initiative as a metaphorical game of life that all of them are about to lose.
Stanza 8
Predictably we arrive at a grim ending in which all of them died. They did not succumb to the cold weather outside but perished because of their prejudices towards each other. The poet calls out their sin, willing to die with sticks in their hand than throwing them in the fire to save everyone. The last lines underline the irony of these men becoming agents of their demise.