Snake By D.h. Lawrence

Snake by D. H. Lawrence. A snake came to my water-trough On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat, To drink there. In the deep, strange-scented shade of the great dark carob-tree I came down the steps with my pitcher And must wait, must stand and wait, for there he was at the trough before me. He reached down from a fissure in the earth-wall in the gloom And trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down, over the edge of the stone trough And rested his throat upon the stone bottom, And where the water had dripped from the tap, in a small clearness, He sipped with his straight mouth, Softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack long body, Silently. Someone was before me at my water-trough, And I, like a second comer, waiting. He lifted his head from his drinking, as cattle do, And looked at me vaguely, as drinking cattle do, And flickered his two-forked tongue from his lips, and mused a moment, And stooped and drank a little more, Being earth-brown, earth-golden from the burning bowels of the earth On the day of Sicilian July, with Etna smoking. The voice of my education said to me He must be killed, For in Sicily the black, black snakes are innocent, the gold are venomous. And voices in me said, If you were a man You would take a stick and break him now, and finish him off. But must I confess how I liked him, How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet, to drink at my water-trough And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless, Into the burning bowels of this earth?

Was it cowardice, that I dared not kill him? Was it perversity, that I longed to talk to him? Was it humility, to feel so honoured? I felt so honoured. And yet those voices: If you were not afraid, you would kill him! And truly I was afraid, I was most afraid, But even so, honoured still more That he should seek my hospitality From out the dark door of the secret earth. He drank enough And lifted his head, dreamily, as one who has drunken, And flickered his tongue like a forked night on the air, so black, Seeming to lick his lips, And looked around like a god, unseeing, into the air, And slowly turned his head, And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice a dream, Proceeded to draw his slow length curving round And climb again the broken bank of my wall-face. And as he put his head into that dreadful hole, And as he slowly drew up, snake-easing his shoulders, and entered farther, A sort of horror, a sort of protest against his withdrawing into that horrid black hole, Deliberately going into the blackness, and slowly drawing himself after, Overcame me now his back was turned. I looked round, I put down my pitcher, I picked up a clumsy log And threw it at the water-trough with a clatter. I think it did not hit him, But suddenly that part of him that was left behind convulsed in undignified haste. Writhed like lightning, and was gone Into the black hole, the earth-lipped fissure in the wall-front, At which, in the intense still noon, I stared with fascination. And immediately I regretted it. I thought how paltry, how vulgar, what a mean act! I despised myself and the voices of my accursed human education.

And I thought of the albatross And I wished he would come back, my snake. For he seemed to me again like a king, Like a king in exile, uncrowned in the underworld, Now due to be crowned again. And so, I missed my chance with one of the lords Of life. And I have something to expiate: A pettiness. POETIC ANALYSIS The poem is more or less like an ode, celebrating the encounter of the poet with a snake, that came as a trespass into his domain for water. The poem starts by revealing the event, the time and the atmosphere. The snake in satisfying its urge for water, went to the poets “water – trough” on “hot day”. Also, the poet who is the owner of the water through came for the same purpose in his pygamas to avoid the “heat”. The poet is said to be coming from his “strange – scented shade” with a “pitcher” in his hand. On getting to his water – through, meeting the snake, he sees it as an obligation to “stand and wait” for the snake because it was there before it. The snake whose origin was from a fissure in the earth –wall, slither slowly with its “yellow – brown” “soft belly” to the “edge of the stone trough”. The stone rested its “throat upon the stone bottom” and started drinking softly its mouth into “his slack long body”. The poet referred to himself s a “second comer” waiting for the snake to finish drinking. The poet while watching, observed its mode of drinking and described it as that of cattle. The poet said in line 15 – 19 that the snake “lifted is throat from his drinking, as cattle do, and

looked at him vaguely, as drinking cattle do” All these the snake did without giving notice or concentration to whom might be watching. The poet recollected the “voice” of his education and said to him that he must kill the snake, “for in Sicily the black, black snakes are innocent, the gold are venomous”. This implies that the poet beliefs that black snakes are harmless while gold snakes are harmful, making an allusion to “Sicilian July” and “Enta smoking”, which are both historical events. The echoe of his voices empted him to kill the snake if he were really a man, but which he latter refused, believing that the snake should “should seek hospitality” in him. For sparing the snake, the poet felt so honoured. The snake having considered been hospitalized, “drank enough an lifted its head” “and flickered his tongue”. After reaching the peak of its satisfaction, the snake turned around slowly with its long curved body towards the direction of its origin. The snake moved in slowly into the hole without any fear. Suddenly, the poet looked around and put down his pitcher, “picked up a clumpsy log and threw it at the water-trough”. This was done to kill the snake but it did not. The snake hearing the “clatter” hastily moved in its remaining body “into the black hole”. At the disappearance of the snake, the poet regretted his action immediately and blamed himself for acting the way he did. He placed the blame on the voice of his education to have lured him into it and feared not to pay for his negative action like the sailor that killed “the albatross”. The poet after regretting wished the snake could come back for him to crown it like a king but believed it would never do so and sees it “like a king in exile”. The poet concluded by feeling that he has to make an amendment. DICTION

The poet adopted a simple, mild, clear, colourful, descriptive and imaginative choice of words to portray his points. These make the poem to be picturesque. STYLE / STRUCTURE The poem is a free verse, having no specific rhyming pattern. The poem’s first part talks about the arrival of the poet and the snake with a brief description of the snake. The second division talks about the mode of the drinking of the snake and the patient attitude of the poet. Furthermore, the third segment features the poet’s mind conflict on whether to kill or spare the snake. The next segment portrays the returning of the snake and lastly, the remorse shown by the poet was expressed. FIGURATIVE EXPRESSION Anaphora: “And slowly” {line 46 & 47}, “And as he” {line 51 & 52}, “And I” {line 67 & 68} Repetition: “hot” {line 2}, “must” {line 6}, “earth” {line 20}, “afraid” {line 37}, “slowly” {line 46}, “a sort” {line 53}, “like a king” {line 68 – 69}. Alliteration: “burning bowels” Line 20 -21}, “peaceful pacify” {line 29”, “dark door” {line 90} Assonance: “door of” {line 40}, “and thankless” {line 29} Simile: “had come like a guest” {line 28}, “…his tongue like a forked night..” {line 43}, “…around like a god” {line 45} Metaphor: “the dark door” {line 40} Allusion: Sicilian July” {line 22}, “albatross” {line 62} Imagery: “pitcher” {line 6}, “…brown slackness soft bellied” {line 10}

THEME 1. Unity co-existence between man and animal 2. Patience 3. harmless attitude of animals 4. Regret 5. Hospitality