Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers The Cold Within
The Cold Within Questions and Answers Extract Based
Question 1.
Six humans trapped by happenstance
In bleak and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood
Or so the story’s told.
(a) What does the poet mean when he says, ‘Or so the story’s told’ ?
(b) What kind of imagery has the poet used here ? What does ‘bleak and bitter’ signify here ?
(c) In what situation were the six persons trapped ? Why could they not come out of this situation ? What was the last ray of their survival ?
(d) Why does the poet use the word ‘humans’ ? What do the words ‘trapped by happenstance’ imply ?
(e) What did the six persons hold in their hands ? Why could they not apply the thing which they held in their hands ?
(f) With which theme does the poem deal ?
Answer.
(a) The poet means to say that it is a story which is being told to the people in the sense that it is a mythical story which is passed on. It is a story which has an immense significance and therefore is told on to future generations, as he (the poet) decides to tell it to the readers.
(b) The poet has used the visual imagery in the following line : ‘In bleak and bitter cold’. ‘Bleak and bitter’ signifies desolated and extremely cold surroundings. There is no hope for anyone to survive in such surroundings. The six persons were so cold from inside that they did not realise that by not helping others they themselves would perish.
(c) The six persons were accidently trapped in an unbearable cold wave. They could not come out of this situation as they could find no shelter in such a desolated and cold place. The last ray of their survival was the dying fire. All the six persons sat round the fire to keep themselves warm from the bitter cold and to save their lives in such a grave situation.
(d) The poet uses the word ‘humans’ because he wants to draw attention to the gathering as specific individuals, rather than as a collection of group. By saying ‘six humans’, it is almost as if he is talking about all humans ‘Trapped by happenstance’ implies no escape from a situation created by chance.
(e) The six person held the sticks of wood in their hands. They could not apply these stick to the dying fire because they were the victims of the prejudices based on race, colour and religion, etc. These prejudices restricted them from making welfare for themselves and others.
(f) The poem deals with the theme of futility of discrimination or hatred that humans have against one another. The poem projects discrimination based on race, class and religion by narrating the story of six individuals who are caught together by chance in extreme cold. Owing to their prejudices against one another, it becomes difficult for them to put their stick into the fire.
Question 2.
Their dying fire in need of logs,
But the first one held hers back,
For, of the faces round the fire,
She noticed one was black.
(a) What is symbolic about the title of the poem ?
(b) Where does the cold-heartedness of mankind lead us ? What discriminatory cultural practices has the man established ?
(c) How do we come to know that the tone of the poem is sad and melancholic ?
(d) What does the dying fire make appeal ? In which line has the poet used alliteration ?
(e) Why did the first man not want to sacrifice his stick to the dying fire ?
(f) Which figure of speech has been used in the folowing line ? How ?
‘Their dying fire in need of logs.’
Answer.
(a) The title is symbolic of lack of warmth and compassion in human beings. Six persons caught against their will in bitter cold, but none of them used the wooden stick due to racism, envy, arrogance, revenge and greed.
(b) The cold-heartedness of mankind leads us to our doom and destruction. The man has established some of the discriminatory cultural practices which are based on gender, religion, colour of the skin, etc.
(c) Undoubtedly the tone of the poem is melancholic and it can be observed when we come to know that the six persons were trapped in cold weather and their dying fire was in need of logs but even though each of them was clutching a piece of wood, they could not put it to use due to being the victim of discrimination and prejudice.
(d) The dying fire is a silent appeal to the group to help themselves by helping each other. In the following line the poet has used alliteration :
‘For of the faces sound the fire. ’
(e) The first -one who was the white man had seen the black in the glow of the fire. He was full of hatred to see the black man’s face, so he gave up idea to sacrifice his stick into the dying fire. He was not least interested to save the life of the black man.
(f) The line given above literally means the fire that keeps the six persons warm, but also stands as a metaphor for their sinful souls. They are committing sins such as racism, envy, arrogance, revenge and greed. By saying they need to add logs to the fire suggests that they need to help out someone other than themselves, or they will freeze to death.
Question 3.
The next man looking ‘cross the way
Saw one not of his church,
And could not bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.
(a) In which situation were the six persons trapped ? How could they have saved themselves ? What forced them to guard their sticks ?
(b) Why did the first man give up the idea of adding the fuel to the dying fire with his own stick ?
(c) Why was the second person not ready to give up his stick to the dying fire ?
(d) Explain the following line :
‘And could not bring himself,’
(e) What does the fire dying fast refer to ? How would the fire have offered a chance for salvation ?
(f) Explain the following : ‘One not of his church’.
Answer.
(a) The six persons were trapped by chance when they were attacked by a cold wave. They could have saved themselves if they had cooperated with each other and shared their sticks to make the fire alive. Their biases against the other forced them to guard their own sticks more than their lives.
(b) The first man belonged to the white race and showed great hatred for the black. As he had seen the black in the group of six people, he dropped the idea to sacrifice his own stick to the dying fire. He showed no intention to save the life of the black man.
(c) The second person was not prepared to give up his stick to the dying fire because he had noticed that one of the six persons did not belong to his religion and he cared only for the people belonging to his own sect of Christianity.
(d) The second person who had seen the person of other religion in group of people could not convince him to sacrifice his stick to the dying fire. He did not seem to be in the favour of helping the person of he other religion.
(e) The dying fire refers to the lack of warmth in the hearts of the human beings. Literally it refers to the fire that is dying and needs to be kept alive with use of a log. The fire would have offered a chance for salvation if each person had used his respective log to feed it.
(f) In Christianity there are too many divisions, some are Catholic, some are Protestants. The man who gave up his intention to add fuel into the dying fire, either belonged to Catholic religion or Protestant religion. Hence he showed the attitude of bitterness towards the other.
Question 4.
The third one sat in tattered clothes.
He gave his coat a hitch.
Why should his log be put to use
To warm the idle rich?
(a) What kind of animosity was there between the black and the white ? Why did the others keep their logs to themselves ?
(b) What kind of attitude did the second person show by not applying the fuel into the dying fire ?
(c) Who was the third one ? In what state did he seem ?
(d) Explain the words ‘idle rich.’
(e) Why did the poor man give his coat a hitch ? Explain it clearly.
(f) What did the rich man think about his money ?
Answer.
(a) The white had agony with the black while the black one wanted to revenge therefore they did not put their logs to the dying fire. Under the great impact of the feelings of prejudices based on religion, caste, creed and colour, etc. all the others kept their logs with themselves instead of making welfare for each other by making sacrifice of their sticks.
(b) The second person showed that he would not like to share his religious ideology and just because of that he could not bear to give his log to the communal fire. This also showed his feeling of religious intolerance.
(c) The third one was a poor man. It seemed as if he was suffering from the poverty. He was in a great miserable and pathetic state as he wore the rags in such a bitter cold. He felt more cold than the others because he had no proper clothes which could save him from bitter cold.
(d) It is believed by the people that the rich people make the workers toil and enjoy the fruits of their labour. So the rich remain idle and flourish at the hard labour of the poor.
(e) The poor man in tattered clothes gave a strong shake to his coat with his hands because by doing so he showed his great tightness towards the rich community and also showed his great hatred and bitterness for the rich. It was clear that he could not tolerate the rich anywhere. In other way, it was probably a bitter cold which forced him to wrap himself tightly so that he might be able to keep himself warm in such a freezing atmosphere.
(f) While sitting near the fire, the rich man absorbed in himself as he was thinking of all the money he had in his possession. He seemed to be worried to think how he could save it from the lazy and dishonest fellow i.e., the poor.
Question 5.
The rich man just sat back and thought
Of the wealth he had in store,
And how to keep what he had earned
From the lazy, shiftless poor.
(a) In what grave situation were the six persons trapped ? What was the only source of their survival ? What does the dying fire need ?
(b) How would the fire have offered a chance for salvation ? What does the dying fire make appeal ?
(c) Why was the second person determined not to give up his stick of wood into the dying fire ?
(d) Why did the rich man maintain distance from the other men ? Why did he continue to sit back ?
(e) Why did the rich man not want to sacrifice his stick ?
(f) What is melancholic and ironical about the poem ? 1
Answer.
(a) The six persons were trapped in a cold wave somewhere and there was no escape from this biting cold. They sat round the dying fire which was the only source of their survival. The fire could be made alive by supplying the wood to it and it could be possible only when one of them applied his log into it.
(b) If each person had used his respective log to feed the fire, it (the fire) would have offered a chance for salvation. The dying fire is a silent appeal to the group to help themselves by helping each other.
(c) The second person had resolved not to give up his stick to the dying fire for making the welfare of other because he had noticed that one of persons in ‘ the group did not have any concern to his religion and he could only help for those who belonged to his own sect of Christianity.
(d) Because of having a great wealth in his possession, the rich man maintained a distance from the other men of the group. He continued to sit back for fear of the safety of his money. He wanted to save his money from the poor whom he had noticed in the group.
(e) The rich man did not want to sacrifice his stick to the dying fire. He did not want to save the life of the poor by giving away his stick to the fire because he considered the poor to be lazy and work-shy.
(f) Six men were trapped in extremely cold. It was a cold wave and they had no escape. They sat around the dying fire which they found there. The dying fire was in need of logs but even each of them was clutching a piece of wood, they could not put it to use due to their differences and prejudices. It is ironical that they died from the cold within them.
Question 6.
The black man’s face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from his sight.
For all he saw in his stick of wood
Was a chance to spite the white.
(a) In what way does the poet describe the six men ? What is sorrowful about these persons ?
(b) What was the reason of the poor man’s hatred for the rich ?
(c) How can we know that the six persons were devoid of humanity ?
(d) Who was the fifth one in the group ? Whom had he seen in the group ? What did his face show ? What forced the black man not to take care of his own life but to rob the other’s life ?
(e) Why was the black man determined to take revenge against the white man ?
(f) Which golden opportunity does the black man describe to revenge against the black man ?
Answer.
(a) The six men in the poem can be seen as representatives of the whole human race, but it is sad that these people are overtaken by the feelings of revenge, spite and anger to such an extent that eventually these prejudices lead to their downfall.
(b) The poor man thought that the rich are responsible for his pathetic condition. He also thought that he was exploited and tortured to a great extent at the hand of the rich. He believed that the rich deprived the poor of their due share and advantage.
(c) The six persons were devoid of humanity and even when they were going through the same situation, they could not cooperate. Warmth and compassion for each other was not seen in them. Each one of them had a log that could be put to use not only for themselves but also for the others, but their differences surpassed their survival instinct.
(d) The fifth man was the black. While sitting round the fire, he had seen the white man in the glow of the dying fire. His face showed how much revengeful he was. His feeling of hatred and revenge forced him not to worry about himself but to take the life of others. The spark of human kindness had died in him. Hence he chose to let the group’s fire die.
(e) The black man was determined to take revenge against the white man because the white had been exploiting and torturing the black for centuries. Thinking about their slavery in America when the black were made to work as servants of the white without any remunerations and privileges, he wore the expressions of anger and hatred for the white man.
(f) The six persons were trapped in a cold wave and all of them were sitting round the dying fire which was in great need of supplying the fuel to make it alive. The black man thought it a golden opportunity to hurt the white community by not supplying the fuel to the dying fire with his own stick.
Question 7.
The last man of this forlorn group
Did nought except for gain.
Giving only to those who gave
Was how he played the game.
(a) Which technique does the poet use when he describes the six persons in the poem ?
(b) What does the poet highlight in the poem ? How does the poet allow the reader to know the psyche of each of them ?
(c) Who was the fourth man ? What was his opinion about the poor ?
(d) What kind of nature did the sixth person have ?
(e) Why did the sixth man give up idea to supply the fuel in the dying fire ?
(f) In which line the figure of speech oxymoron has been used ? Explain the word ‘Forlorn.
Answer.
(a) The poet uses narrative technique when he describes the story of six persons. The first stanza tells the readers of the six individuals who are trapped by chance in extremely cold weather. Each of the six persons has a stanza to reveal the prejudices.
(b) The poet 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, the poet allows the reader to know the psyche of each of them.
(c) The fourth man was the master of great wealth. He thought that they (poor) themselves are responsible for their miseries and sufferings as they are lazy, dishonest and work-shy fellows and they want to rob the rich people.
(d) The sixth person was very selfish. He did not show any interest to do any work until he got personal gain. He did everything for his self interest. He helped only to those who helped him in return. In other words, he was a mean fellow.
(e) When the sixth man noticed that no one in the group was prepared to add the fuel to the dying fire with his own stick, he also held back his stick. He thought that it would be unprofitable to use his stick to light up the dying fire to warm the other five people.
(f) The figure of speech oxymoron has been used in the following line :
‘The last man of this forlorn group.’
The poet foreshadows the fate of the group by finally describing the bunch as forlorn or hopeless.
Question 8.
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.
(a) Which prejudices do many of us develop ? Where do these prejudices lead us ? Which human quality was absent in all the six persons ? What surpassed their survival instinct ?
(b) What is ironical about the fate of the six persons in the poem ?
(c) What obstacle does the coldness of our hearts create in the way of making welfare of the others ?
(d) What happened to the six persons in the end ? In what state were they seen lying ?
(e) What universal plea does the poet make in the poem ?
(f) What do the logs in the hands of the six persons symbolise ? Explain the lines :
‘They did not die from the cold without. They died from the cold within.’
Answer.
(a) Many of us develop coldness in our hearts out of some prejudices. These prejudices may relate to race, colour, caste and religion. They make us mean, stingy, selfish, greedy and unkind. Warmth and compassion was not seen in all the six persons. Their differences and prejudices based on race, class and religion surpassed their survival instinct.
(b) The six persons trapped accidently in extreme cold weather were sitting round the fire which was about to die if more wood was not provided to the fire. Each of the six individuals around the fire had a stick of wood with them which they could collectively use to let the fire carry on burning, but each of them restricted himself from putting his stick into the fire. Consequently the fire died out and all the six of them died. Indeed it was an irony of their fate that they themselves invited death.
(c) The coldness which we carry in our hearts is very dangerous and fatal. It prevents us from reaching out to others, from helping and saving ourselves and others. It makes us lead a sinful life.
(d) Because of having differences and prejudices, the six persons refused to share their logs to fuel the dying fire and keep each other warm. Eventually, the fire died out in the morning and all of them were found frozen to death. Even in death, each one of them was seen clutching 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.
(e) In fact, the poem is a parable – a story with a moral. It is so because the poet tries to bring home a very important lesson to his readers. The end of the six men was from the coldness from within and not from without is a plea against harbouring prejudices or sins such as racism, envy, arrogance, revenge and greed.
(f) The logs which the six persons were holding in their hands, were nothing but a proof of human sins. Each log symbolises a sin. The most obvious sins are of spite, stinginess, greed, revenge, etc. If they had 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. The lines given above abound with irony. We realise 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.
Treasure Trove Poems and Short Stories Workbook Answers