Question

Summary of the poem the cold within by James Patrick Kinney

Answer 1

Through his poem, 'The Cold Within' James Patrick Kinney wants to highlight how the man gives in to discrimination and prejudices which govern all his thoughts and deeds. By the example of a group of six people sitting around a fire holding a stick each, Kinney allows the reader to know the psyche of each of them. How each of them is prejudiced and holds back his stick which is needed to let the fire go on. The white hates the black and the rich is contemptuous of the poor. Their hatred is stronger than the genuine need of the hour, i.e. to let the fire go on. Ultimately the fire dies and Kinney makes it clear that it was not due to the cold outside, but it was due to the cold within that refrained each of them to use his stick to keep the fire going. The message was so powerful, the poem took on a life of its own.

Answer 2

Explanation:

James Patrick kinney is an American poet who wrote this poem in the 1960s. Although it was first rejected as being too controversial, it gained popularity rapidly after it had been read out at a council meeting of all religions.

The poem describes the tragic death of a group of six who stand around a fire - each holding on grimly to a log of wood. Allowing their selfishness, prejudice, malice and suspicious to dictate their actions, they refuse to share to share the log to fuel the dying fire and keep each other warm. Eventually, the fire dies out and in the morning all six of them are found frozen to death, each clutching, even in death, a log that could have so easily saved their lives if only they had overcome the petty barriers of class, race and religion that divided them.

The poem is a simple yet powerful reminder that if we selfishly hold on to the world's resources, and the wealth that it has to offer, if we persist in discriminating on grounds of race, religion, caste, gender and ethnicity, we are all lost!