CLASS X THE SNAKE - D H LAWRENCE

 Answer the following questions briefly:

1. Why does the poet decide to stand and wait till the snake has finished drinking? What does this tell you about the poet? (Notice that he uses ‘someone’ instead of ‘something’ for the snake.)
Ans. The poet decides that since he believes the snake arrived before him, he should stand and wait until the snake finishes drinking. He also feels greatly honoured that the snake had chosen his water trough to satisfy his thirst. The poet addresses the snake as ‘someone’ instead of ‘something’ as he seems to be a nature enthusiast. He also believes in giving respect to all living beings who share the space with him on earth.

 

2. In stanza 2 and 3, the poet gives a vivid description of the snake by using suggestive expressions. What picture of the snake do you form on the basis of this description?
Ans. The snake was yellow-brown and soft-bellied when it emerged from a crack in the earth wall and made its way to the water trough. He discreetly lapped into his long, lean physique with a straight mouth and drank water softly through straight gums.

3. How does the poet describe the day and the atmosphere when he had seen the snake?
Ans. The weather was warm. Due to the heat, the poet was in pyjamas and had come down to the water trough to fill his pitcher. It appeared to be a day in July in Sicily, with Mount Etna smouldering. When the snake came out of the fissure to drink from the trough, the environment was dark.

4. What does the poet want to convey by saying that the snake emerges from the ‘burning bowels of the earth’?
Ans. The poet wants to make it clear that the snake emerged from the gloomy pit. He is implying that the snake emerges from the fissure at the bottom of the earth, which is pitch-black, completely dark. It is referred to as the ‘burning bowel’ of the earth because it is the same place from where the hot lava of the volcanic Mount Etna erupts, the inner core of the earth.

5. Do you think the snake was conscious of the poet’s presence? How do you know?
Ans. The snake arrived very gently, draping his yellow-brown belly over the edge of the stone water trough. It was not aware of the poet’s presence. This can be inferred because it placed its throat on the wet bottom of the trough where the water was dripping and sipped into his long, slack body with a straight mouth. It was calm.

6. How do we know that the snake’s thirst had been satiated? Pick out the expressions that convey this.
Ans. The snake’s thirst was quenched because, after consuming some water silently, he lifted his head “as cattle do,” and “Seeming to lick his lips” expressed satisfaction and might have felt satiated. He looked “dreamily, as one who has drunken” also suggests that he has drank to his heart content.

7. The poet has a dual attitude towards the snake. Why does he experience conflicting emotions on seeing the snake?
Ans. The poet experiences contradictory emotions upon witnessing the snake. Even if his schooling tells him to kill the snake because it might be dangerous to him, there is something within him that really wants him to like and welcome the snake. Additionally, he views the visitor as his guest and is honoured that it has come to drink water. He therefore feels guilty about tossing the wooden log at the innocent snake.

8. The poet is filled with horror and protest when the snake prepares to retreat and bury itself in the ‘horrid black’, ‘dreadful’ hole. In the light of this statement, bring out the irony of his act of throwing a log at the snake.
Ans. When the poet realized that his ‘guest’ was going back, he experienced a protest, as if he did not want it to go back into the earth’s hole. However, reaction to this act came in the form of throwing a log at the snake. It is ironical because the reaction is not in tandem to the action or the feeling. The poet expresses his unhappiness violently and not by love or pleading to stay back.   

9. The poet seems to be full of admiration and respect for the snake. He almost regards him like a majestic God. Pick out at least four expressions from the poem that reflect these emotions.
Ans. The poet has great regard and admiration for the snake. He treats it with the same regard as a visitor who has come to his watering hole to fill up. He lets the snake drink because it arrived before him as he “stands and waits” to fill his pitcher. The following expressions reflect his emotions-
“like a god”
he had come like a guest
“like a king.”
“one of the lords of life.”

10. What is the difference between the snake’s movement at the beginning of the poem and later when the poet strikes it with a log of wood? You may use relevant vocabulary from the poem to highlight the difference.
Ans. At the beginning of the poem the snake calmly and gracefully descends to the water trough, “trails his yellow-brown soft-belly.” But later when the poet hurled a “clumsy log” at the snake, it “writhed like lightning and was gone into the black hole” shows lack of grace as it has to save itself from the inhumane treatment of the poet.

11. The poet experiences feelings of self-derision, guilt and regret after hitting the snake. Pick out expressions that suggest this. Why does he feel like this?
Ans. After striking the snake, the poet experiences regret, guilt, and self-loathing. He attributes his decision to strike the snake to the voices of his education. How ‘paltry, how crude, what a cruel act!’ he muses. He hates himself, and a voice inside him curses his human education.

12. You have already read Coleridge’s poem The Ancient Mariner in which an albatross is killed by the mariner. Why does the poet make an allusion to the albatross?
Ans. At the beginning of the poem, the poet is honoured that the snake has chosen his water trough to quench his thirst, though he is jostling with the conflict which is going on within him i.e., to kill the snake. At a certain moment in the poem, we come across the poet’s thoughts where he is not sure whether it is his feeling of being honoured or lack of courage that stops him from acting in accordance to the voices within him. But finally, when the snake turns to go, he feels repelled as well as may have gained the courage as the snake’s back is turned towards him that he picks up the log and throws at him.

Here, he uses the allusion of ‘the albatross’, as it is the symbol of guilt. In the poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, S T Coleridge uses the albatross to symbolise the guilt for the sin committed by the Mariner of killing an innocent bird. The mariners hang the albatross around his neck instead of the cross to remind him of the crime that he has committed. Here in this poem, the poet, D H Lawrence, uses the allusion of the albatross, as this act of throwing the log will remain as a guilt in his heart that he had behaved in a petty and rude manner to another majestic creation of god and that he had forever lost an opportunity to acquaint himself with the Lord of the underworld. He curses his human education for his behaviour; however, he realises that the damage has been done and this act of his will remain with him as his albatross i.e., his guilt

 

13. ‘I have something to expiate’- Explain.
Ans. The poet hits the snake with a log due to which the snake quickly withdraws itself into the fissure from where it had come. The moment the snake disappears, the poet realises the mistake that he has committed, the chance that he has wasted to know another majestic creation of the god. He knows that this act of pettiness would be his albatross and which he is going to regret his entire life. He curses his human education for this act and prays for a chance where he could make amends for his petty behaviour and where he would be able to treat the king of underworld with due respect.

Literary devices/ Figures of Speech

1. Personification - giving human qualities to anything that is not human. The poet personifies the snake - calling the king of the underworld, for he was at the water trough etc.

2. Simile - using the word as/like to compare to unlikely things. Poet compares by saying - as cattles do etc

3. Anaphora - means repetition of words or sets of words at the beginning of the line. 'And', 'was' ...

4. Onomatopoeia - sound words. 'clatter'..

5. Alliteration - is a figure of speech where two or more neighbouring words have the same first consonant sound. e.g., from the poem - 'peaceful, pacified', 'burning bowels' etc

6. Allusion - an indirect reference to a place, thing, event or context to enhance the meaning or use the context to emphasise the relevancy of the event. Here the poet refers to Albatross to emphasise that the guilt of hitting the snake will forever be with him. 

7. Imagery - means where our one or more of senses are awakened or used to imagine the poets the thoughts. e.g., 'Etna smoking' 'burning bowels of earth'(volcano/hot lava underneath/just the overall experience of heat)

8. Symbolism/Theme - Symbolism and theme of a poem goes hand-in-hand. The poem represents the conflict between the human education and the natural/animal world.