POEM –SNAKE
D H LAWRENCE
David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885
– 2 March 1930) was an English novelist, poet,
playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter
who published as D. H. Lawrence. His
collected works represent an extended
reflection upon the dehumanising effects of
modernity and industrialisation. In them,
Lawrence confronts issues relating to
emotional health and vitality, spontaneity, and
instinct. Lawrence is perhaps best known for
his novels Sons and Lovers, The
Rainbow, Women in Love and Lady
Chatterley's Lover. Lawrence's best-known
short stories include The Captain's Doll, The
Fox, The Ladybird, Odour of
Chrysanthemums, The Princess, The RockingHorse Winner, St Mawr, The Virgin and the
Gypsy and The Woman who Rode Away. (The
Virgin and the Gypsy was published as
a novella after he died.)
A snake came to my water-trough
Slide 6
On a hot, hot day, and I in pajamas 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,
Lines 1-9
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:
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 wallfront,
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
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.
VISUAL DICTIONARY
Snake drinking
from water
trough
Water trough
pitcher
Carob tree
Forked tongue
Etna smoking
Sicilian july
Sicily's hottest summers on record, and unusual even for Sicily.
There is a big heat wave at the end of June, and again at the end
of July with temperatures at 40-44C/104-109.4F (blackouts) day
after day. Catania was over 50C/122F. Before 2007, the last
severe heat wave was in 2001.
July is always extremely hot and dry, especially along the coastal
areas. Sea temperatures are also warm. The interior and
mountainous areas are cooler and greener.
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 trough came for the same purpose in his
pyjamas to avoid the “heat”.
The poet is said to be coming from his “strange – scented shade”
with a “pitcher” in his hand.
is a type of lyrical verse.
On getting to his water – trough, meeting the snake, he
sees it as an obligation to “stand and wait” for the snake
because it was there before him.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 snake rested its “throat
upon the stone bottom” and started drinking softly its
mouth into “his slack long body”.
The poet referred to himself as “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 its throat
from his drinking, as cattle do, and
The snake having been considered hospitalized, “drank
enough and 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 t
he hole without any fear.
Suddenly, the poet looked around
and put down his pitcher, “picked
up a clumsy 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”.
Poet regrets his inhuman act
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.
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 is expressed.
FIGURATIVE EXPRESSION
Repetition:“HOT” {LINE 2}, “MUST” {LINE 6}, “EARTH” {LINE 20}, “AFRAID” {LINE37}, “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”
Work sheet -1
1.Find from the poem words used to describe the snake.
2.How is the day described in the poem?What evidence do you find in the poem to
support your answer?
3.The poet is in a state of confusion in the poem. What is the confusion about?
Worksheet -2
Give two examples of the following figures of speech from the poem.
s.no Figure of
speech
1
simile
2
repetition
3
metaphor
4
imagery
5
alliteration
Extract from the poem
Extrapolation question
What underlying statement is the poet making about human beings
in general and himself in particular?
The regrets his act and writes about his feelings ia letter to his
friend.Write the letter in not more than 150-180 words.
(Diary entry)
Value based question
The beautiful Earth is created for
everyone to live and enjoy .We human
have no right to interfere in other `s
freedom and threaten their existence.
Enumerate with reference to the poem
“snake”