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"The Cold Within" was written in the 1960s by an American poet known as James Patrick Kinney. It has appeared in countless church bulletins, web sites and teaching seminars, as well as magazines and newspapers, including Dear Abby’s column on September 5, 1999. According to the poet's widow, he submitted the poem first to the Saturday Evening Post, but it was rejected as "too controversial for the time". Kinney sent it later to Liguorian, a Catholic magazine, which was the first commercial publication to print it. According to Timothy Kinney (the poet's son), the poem was originally read at an ecumenical council meeting, after which the ministers, priests and rabbis in attendance requested copies of it. They read the poem to their congregations and, before long, "The Cold Within" became well known throughout the United States. == Poem text == Six humans trapped by happenstance In bleak and bitter cold. Each one possessed a stick of wood Or so the story’s told. Their dying fire in need of logs The first man held his back For of the faces round the fire He noticed one was black. The next man looking ‘cross the way Saw one not of his church And couldn’t bring himself to give The fire his stick of birch. 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? 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. 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. The last man of this forlorn group Did nought except for gain. Giving only to those who gave Was how he played the game. Their logs held tight in death’s still hands Was proof of human sin. They didn’t die from the cold without They died from the cold within. According to James Patrick Kinney's son, the poem is in the public domain. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Cold Within」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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