Read the excerpt from "Not Waving but Drowning” by Stevie Smith.

Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he’s dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.

Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.

What does the cold most likely symbolize?

the inevitability of death
the deep ocean waters
the man’s adversities in life
the attitude of the man’s friends