Question

write the summary of The cold within

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

Summary of the poem " Cold Within "

There was a group of six people who met by chance and were trapped in a cold and bleak weather .

Each one had a piece of log of wood in their hand and they had a dying fire in front.

Anyone , if would have gave the log to the fire , then they would have saved the fire and could have survived the weather .

However their hearts were cold and they showed lack of human feeling to one another.

The first woman refused to give the log because she had racial bias and noticed a black face in the group.

The second man saw no one from his Church.

The third man was poor and he did not want to serve the rich.

The rich thought not to offer the log for the idle poor.

The fifth man was black and he wanted to take revenge on the white.

The sixth man did not give unless he has been given too .

These group completely were dominated by their prejudices and they had a cold heart.

It was this coldness that resulted in their death rather than the cold weather .

We should remember " Love thy neighbor as thyself ".