Poem Snake (D. H. Lawrence) Summary Imp Qs Ref Explanation

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Poem:

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 an 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.

Introduction

The poem is about a personal experience of the poet on a hot afternoon. It is among well-known poems of the poet. It has many layers of meanings. The poet goes on changing his view-point about the snake. The first feeling is that of fear: he is afraid to see the snake. The second is that of being honoured: he is honoured to think that the snake is his guest. The third is that of fascination: he is charmed by the body and behaviour of the snake. The fourth is that of disgust: he tries to kill the snake with a piece of wood because the "voice" of his "education" had told him that the snake was poisonous. The fifth, or the last, is that of remorse: he is sorry at his foolish attack at and behaviour with the snake.

Summary

The poet once came down with a pitcher on a hot day in Etna, Sicily, to get water from his water trough for drinking. He was feeling so hot that he was not in his formal dress; he was in his pajamas. When he reached near the trough, he saw a snake there that was drinking water. The snake had come out of a hole in a mud-wall. It had drawn all its length slowly to the water-trough for drinking water as it must also feeling hot and thirsty (like the poet himself).

The poet waited at the trough like a late/second comer for his turn. The snake was drinking water like cattle. It looked in the middle at the poet and flickered its forked tongue. The poet realized that the snake had come out of the bowels of the hot earth because of excessive heat.

As the poet was well-educated, he was told by the voice of his education that as the snake was poisonous, so he must kill it at once. Education told him that all golden snakes in Sicily were poisonous and that was a golden one! But the poet was almost honoured to think that the snake had arrived at his water-trough as a guest. It would go away quietly to the bowels of the earth as it had come out of it. The poet, therefore, did not attack it: he took the snake as a guest that had arrived to enjoy its hospitality.

He now wanted to talk to it. Still his modern scientific education was again telling him to kill it. He hesitated for sometime. During this time the snake drank water to its full and started its return journey.

Then the poet took an ugly piece of wood lying nearby and threw it at the trough. As the snake realized this attack on itself, it hurried towards its hole, a crack in the mud-wall, and drew its remaining length hurriedly. The poet looked at its movement with fascination and interest as it disappeared into its hole.

The poet felt rather ashamed at his behavior (i.e., the attack). He felt that it was a very mean action at his part. He had been tempted by his education to kill the snake. He thought of the innocent "albaross" [that was killed by the mariner in the great poem of S.T. Coleridge: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner]. He now desired that the snake should return but it would not! He imagined the snake as a king of the under-ground world who had come to the poet's world temporarily and was now being crowned in its own world again. The poet felt ashamed at the poor behaviour he had shown to such a lord of life. He wanted to do some penance for this petty act he had committed.

Important Questions

Questions No 1. Describe as simply as you can the arrival of the snake at the water trough and its departure back into its hole. [Snake by D. H. Lawrence]

Ans. It was a very hot summer July day in the city of Etna in Sicily. The poet came down from his stairs in pajamas with a pitcher to get water. He saw a snake at his water-trough. The snake had come out of a crack in the mud-wall. The wall was under the large shadow of a carob-tree. The snake had dragged its long golden body slowly. It rested its throat on the stone bottom of the trough. At that place water was falling from the tap. The snake drank water from there peacefully.

The snake lifted its head while drinking, like cattle, and looked all around itself. It moved its forked tongue, mused awhile, and drank again. Later, it raised its head dreamily and moved its tongue again, satisfied. Then it went towards its hole and started to enter into it. It seemed to the poet like a lord of the under-ground world.

The poet hit it with a log and it moved its remaining body hastily into the hole. Very soon afterwards, it disappeared into its dark hole completely.

Question No 2. Describe the conflict in the mind of D. H. Lawrence at the presence of the snake at his water-trough.

Ans. When the poet saw a snake at his water-trough, he had a conflict in his mind. Again and again there were subtle changes in his relationship with the snake.

At first, he feels a little angry with it as he had to stand waiting for his turn at his own water trough, the snake being the first comer.

Then he feels honoured to feel that the snake was a guest at his water-trough, he being the host.

Then he listens to his voice of education that tells him to kill it as it is a poisonous snake. But he cannot kill it as he is appreciating its beauty and its style of drinking.

Then the snake returns to its dark hole and the poet, forced by the voice of education plus his own disgust, strikes at it with a wooden log/stick.

Then he feels remorse for having struck. He wishes that the snake should arrive again and be honoured, loved and appreciated by him, so that he can expiate.

Question No 3. Write the critical appreciation of the poem "Snake by D. H. Lawrence".

Ans. The poem "Snake" by D. H. Lawrence is one the most remarkable poems in English literature. It was written in 1921 and has been popular even since that time. The poet saw a snake drinking water at his water-trough. He got one sensation and consideration after another after seeing the snake. Here he gives all the different stages of his serious consideration about the snake.

The poem has different layers of meanings as it goes on to tell us about poet's different reactions to the presence of the snake at his water-trough. The poet has well analyzed all his sensations in detail. To start with with, he sees the snake as an intruder who keeps him waiting for water at his own water-trough. Later on, this feeling gives way to another feeling. Now he feels that the snake is a guest and he is host, and he feels honoured at that!

The considerations of the poet again changes. His education tells that golden snakes of Sicily are poisonous and he should kill the snake as it is golden. But before he could attack it, he begins enjoying its beauty. He does not kill it, and because he is a coward but because it is a beautiful creature and he enjoys its beauty.

Later, the snake starts entering a dark hole and the poet is horrified. He throws a log at the trough the snake is able to enter safely into its hole. He now starts feeling shame and remorse at his hitting the snake. He feels that the snake was an exiled king that has now again returned to its under-ground kingdom, there to be crowned again. So the poet feels that he had treated such an exalted personality with a meanness. He feels that if the snake would come back, he would amend his behavior and would show it due honor and respect.

The theme of the poem is appreciation of the beauty even in the seemingly ugly things. It is a grand theme. The same has been the theme of a very important classic of English literature. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by S. T. Coleridge. The beauty should be appreciated in all the creations of God. It is a very good lesson for us all that the poet teaches through this poem.

The theme has been presented in a very sweet manner through a great sublime audio-visual imagery. We begin to see all the drama of the arrival and departure of the snake, we see "flickering" of the "forked tongue" of the snake, we see the "writhing", "wriggling" slow-moving long body of the snake moving into its dark hole. The theme has been expressed through a good set of pictures. The theme is serious and has been presented in a serious way.

The poem, in fact, becomes a sweet narration _ a song in praise of snake _ a lyric in appreciation of the snake's beauty. It is a dramatic narration. The poem has been written in free verse in which all the lines are end-stopped without any enjambment. But there is the rhythm of the ideas in the poem that makes it well-balanced. The vocabulary is simple and elaborate. All the aspects of the appearance of the snake as well as changing conditions of the poet's consideration have been very aptly and suitably described. The diction is modern and well-suited to the grand and useful theme of the poem. The vocabulary is all related to the body of the snake and its movements. The poem is altogether a good and sublime one, teaching us a valuable lesson of appreciation of beauty of nature even in seemingly ugly and dangerous creatures as snakes.

Question No 4. Pick out all the descriptive words used for the snake.

Ans. Here are all the descriptive words used for the snake by the poet:

Snake (line 1), yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied/Down (lines 9-10), sipped with straight mouth (line 13), Softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack long body (line 14), lifted his head ... as cattle do (line 17), looked at ... vaguely, as driking cattle do (line 18), flickered his two-forked tongue from his lips, and mused a moment (line 19), stooped (line 20), earth brown, earth golden (line 21), peaceful, pacified and thankless (line 30), lifted ... head, dreamily (line 43), flickered his tongue like a forked night (line 44), seemingly to lick his lips (line 45), looked around like a god (line 46), slowly turned his head (line 47), slowly, very slowly ... proceeded to draw his slow length curving around (lines 48-49), climb again (line 50), put his head (line 51), snake-easing his shoulders (line 52), drawing into (line 5), deliberately going ... slowly drawing (line 54), convulsed in undignified haste (line 60), withed like lightning and was gone (line 61) one of the lords of the life (line 73).

Question No 5. Why does the poet think of his education as "accursed"?

Ans. The poet thinks of his education as "accursed" because (1) it did not allow him to appreciate the beauty of the snake, (2) it did not allow him to honor the snake as a guest and (3) it tempted him to kill the snake although it was returning to its dark hole without harming him.

Question No 6. Can you point out the subtle changes in the poet's relationship with the snake.

Ans. There come subtle changes in the poet's relationship with the snake.

At first, he feels a little angry with it as he had to stand waiting for his turn at his own water trough, the snake being the first comer.

Then he feels honoured to feel that the snake was a guest at his water-trough, he being the host.

Then he listens to his voice of education that tells him to kill it as it is a poisonous snake. But he cannot kill it as he is appreciating its beauty and its style of drinking.

Then the snake returns to its dark hole and the poet, forced by the voice of education plus his own disgust, strikes at it with a wooden log/stick.

Then he feels remorse for having struck. He wishes that the snake should arrive again and be honoured, loved and appreciated by him, so that he can expiate.

Question No 7. Why is the poet glad to see the snake at his water trough?

Ans. The poet is glad to see the snake at his water trough because it was a beautiful golden (although poisonous!) snake and it had arrived at his water trough as a guest, to provide him the opportunity to be hospitable.

Reference, Context and Explanation:

Lines 1-3: A snake ... drink there.

A snake came to my water-trough
On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat,
To drink there.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from "Snake" written by D. H. Lawrence.

Context:

The poet tells us in this poem about the arrival of a snake at his water-trough on a hot July day to drink water. The poem consists of different changing sentiments and responses of the poet about and towards the snake.

Explanation:

The poet tells us that it was a very hot day in summer. Due to excessive heat he had put off his formal dress and was in his pajamas. He came to his water-trough to get water. He saw that a snake was already present there to drink water.

Lines 4-7: In the deep ... before me.

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.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from "Snake" written by D. H. Lawrence.

Context:

Explanation:

The poet had arrived down the stairs into his lawn where there was a great dark carob-tree with its strange smell. He had a pitcher in his hand. But he had to wait there for his turn because the snake was already there before him.

Lines 8-14: He reached down ... silently.

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.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from "Snake" written by D. H. Lawrence.

Context:

Explanation:

The snake had arrived out of a dark crack in the mud-wall. He had come out of that slowly with his yellow, long, soft body. Now he had reached the side of the stone trough and was resting his throat at the bottom of the stone-trough. The water was falling from a tap into the trough and at that place the snake was sipping water directly from the place with a strange quiteness.

Lines 15-16: Someone was ... waiting.

Someone was before me at my water-trough,
And I, like a second-comer, waiting.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from "Snake" written by D. H. Lawrence.

Context:

Explanation:

The poet saw the snake that had reached the water trough before him. So he had to wait for his turn as a late-comer.

Lines 17-22: He lifted his head ... Etna smoking.

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.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from "Snake" written by D. H. Lawrence.

Context:

Explanation:

The snake lifted its head from the water-trough as cattle (cows, buffaloes etc.) do. It looked above like drinking cattle with unclear eyes. Then it moved/waved its forked tongue and paused for a while. Later on, it drank a little more water. The poet then noticed its color which was earth-brown or gold-brown perhaps because of living under the hot earth. That was a very hot day in July and the city (Etna) was rather too hot to bear.

Lines 23-27: The voice of ... him off.

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.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from "Snake" written by D. H. Lawrence.

Context:

Explanation:

As the poet was an educated and civilized person, he thought that he should kill the snake. The black snakes were not poisonous in Sicily whereas the golden snakes were poisonous and it was a golden snake. The voice of education said to him from inside that if he was a brave man, he should take a stick and kill the snake.

Lines 28-29: But must I ... water trough.

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

Reference:

These lines have been taken from "Snake" written by D. H. Lawrence.

Context:

Explanation:

The poet says that when his voice of education and civilization told him to kill the snake, he did not kill it. The reason was that the snake seemed to be beautiful to him. Moreover, the snake had come to drink water at his trough, therefore, it was his guest. Killing a guest was very bad. So he did not like the idea of killing the snake.

Lines 30-35: And depart peaceful ... honoured.

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.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from "Snake" written by D. H. Lawrence.

Context:

Explanation:

The poet felt that the snake was (a sort of) his guest. It would go peacefully and quietly after drinking water. It would go into its own underground hole. So he left it. He did not leave the snake due to his cowardice. He did not leave it due to his own obstinacy. He was rather feeling honored to have the snake at his water-trough as a guest. He was feeling very honored in the service of the snake.

Lines 36-37: And yet those ... kill him!

And yet those voices:
If you were not afraid, you would kill him!

Reference:

These lines have been taken from "Snake" written by D. H. Lawrence.

Context:

Explanation:

The poet again heard the voice of his education that asked him to kill the snake. The voice told him that he must kill it if he was not a coward and if he did not feel afraid of it.

Lines 38-41: And truly I ... secret earth.

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.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from "Snake" written by D. H. Lawrence.

Context:

Explanation:

The poet tried to analyze his feelings. He came to know that he was really afraid, rather very afraid, of the snake. Still he did not kill the snake because he felt that he was the host and the snake was the guest. It had come out of its dark hole from inside the earth in order to enjoy his hospitality.

Lines 42-50: He drank ... my wall face.

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.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from "Snake" written by D. H. Lawrence.

Context:

Explanation:

The poet tells us that the snake drank much water. After drinking water, it lifted its head up dreamily and heavily like a drunk person. It waved its forked tongue on its lips as if to lick. It was as black as night. The poet calls is a forked night, i.e., he makes the snake embodied into a night itself. Then the snake began to look all around itself without caring for anything. It did not attend to anything particular. It seemed to survey all the things like a master. Then it curved around its length slowly. It started to climb upon the slope of the broken mud-wall in front of him. It went towards the crack in the wall from where it had come out for drinking water.

Lines 51-55: And as he put ... was turned.

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.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from "Snake" written by D. H. Lawrence.

Context:

Explanation:

When the snake put its head into its dark hole and it tried to take the rest of its body inside that, the poet felt a sort of horror. He could not tolerate that anything so beautiful and lord-like should enter inside a black and ugly place like the underground hole.

Lines 56-58: I looked around ... with a clatter.

I looked round, I put down my pitcher,
I picked up a clumsy log
And threw it at the water-trough with a clatter.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from "Snake" written by D. H. Lawrence.

Context:

Explanation:

The poet put down his pitcher and looked around him to find something to hit the snake. He saw an ugly stick, picked it up and threw it at the trough with a noise.

Lines 59-63: I think it ... with facination.

I think it did not hit him,
But suddenly that part of him that was left behind convulsed
in an 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.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from "Snake" written by D. H. Lawrence.

Context:

Explanation:

The poet thought/saw that the stick which he threw at the trough did not hit the snake. But due to the noise the snake got startled and that part of its body which was still outside the hole, writhed in an undignified way. Later, the snake disappeared into the hole with the speed of lightning. The hole was like a crack with earthen lips in the mud wall. The poet watched this new movement of the snake in that hot silent noon with a sort of charmed happiness.

Lines 64-66: And immediately ... human education.

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.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from "Snake" written by D. H. Lawrence.

Context:

Explanation:

The poet began to feel regret immediately at hitting the snake. He thought that he had committed a very low and mean action by striking it. So he felt a hatred for himself as well as for his voice of education that had asked him to kill it because it was poisonous.

Lines 67-71: And I thought ... crowned again.

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.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from "Snake" written by D. H. Lawrence.

Context:

Explanation:

The poet thought about the innocent sea-bird, albatross, that was killed by the sailor in Coleridge's poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner". As a result, he began to wish that the snake should return from its hole and he should honor it. The snake seemed to the poet like a king of the under-ground world that had come to the earth leaving its kingdom temporarily and had entered inside the earth again to get its crown back.

Lines 72-75: And so, I missed ... pettiness.

And so, I missed my chance with one of the lords
Of life.
And I have something to expiate:
A pettiness.

Reference:

These lines have been taken from "Snake" written by D. H. Lawrence.

Context:

Explanation:

The poet felt that he had missed a good opportunity of meeting with an under-ground lord. He missed the opportunity of knowing and understanding a beautiful, honorable, lordly creature. So he wanted to have a penance for his sin. He felt guilty of committing a mean action.

Poem Snake (D. H. Lawrence) Summary Imp Qs Ref Explanation