Snake - D. H. Lawrence

SNAKE by D. H. Lawrence is the longest poem ever [next to My Last Duchess I guess].
I am not posting the poem as the latter will take up most space in this blog. Poem reference can be made here: http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/Classic%20Poems/Lawrence/snake.htm

MEANING OF DIFFICULT WORDS

1. Water-trough - a device to enable a steam railway locomotive to replenish its water supply while in motion. It consists of a long trough filled with water, lying along a flat stretch of railroad/railway track between the rails.

2. Pitcher - a container, usually with a handle and spout or lip, for holding and pouring liquids.

3. Fissure - a narrow opening produced by cleavage or separation of parts.

4. Muse – ponder, contemplate

5. Bowels – the inward or interior parts

6. Perverse - wilfully determined or disposed to go counter to what is expected or desired

7. Convulse – to cause to suffer violent

8. Paltry – ridiculously or insultingly small / mean / utterly worthless.

9. Accursed - damnable; detestable / under a curse; doomed; ill-fated.

10. Albatross – something burdensome that impedes action or progress / a seemingly inescapable moral or emotional burden, as of guilt or responsibility.

11. Expiate – to atone for; make amends or reparation for: to expiate one's crimes.

12. Pettiness – mean / showing or caused by meanness of spirit

POETIC/LITERARY DEVICES

1. 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.

2. Style and 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 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.

3. Figurative Expression

1. Anaphora:

•  “And slowly” {line 46 & 47} 
•  “And as he” {line 51 & 52}
•  “And I”{line 67 & 68}

2. 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}

3. Alliteration:

•  “burning bowels” {Line 20 -21}
•  “peaceful pacify” {line 29}
• “dark door ” {line 90}

4. Assonance:

• “door of” {line 40}
• “and thankless” {line 29}

5. Simile:

• “had come like a guest” {line 28}
•  “…his tongue like a forked night..” {line 43}
•  “…around like a god” {line 45}

6. Metaphor:

• “the dark door ” {line 40}

7. Allusion:

•  Sicilian July” {line 22}
•  “albatross” {line 62}

8. Imagery

• “pitcher ” {line 6}
• “…brown slackness soft bellied” {line 10}

STANZA BY STANZA ANALYSIS

Stanza 1 and 2: The beginning of the poem depicts a hot day, when he had a visitor, a snake that came to his water- trough for a drink in his presence. As he came down the steps in his pyjamas with a pitcher, under the Carob tree spreading its shade and strange scent, he caught a glimpse of the snake and had to stand and wait.

Stanza 3: The poet stood and watched the snake slithering down from a crack in the earthen wall and it slipped down its yellow-brown soft belly over the edge of the stone trough. He stood watching the snake, sipping the water dripping from the top with its straight mouth through its straight gums silently.

Stanza 4 and 5: This stanza pictures the poet D.H. Lawrence standing and watching the yellow-brown soft bellied snake at his water-trough drinking softly through its straight gums silently. While he was waiting there like a second comer, waiting for the snake to finish his drink. The snake lifted his head, looked at the poet vaguely, flickered his two-forked tongue from his lips, paused a moment and then drank a little more. He describes the heat of the earth on the day of July in the city of Sicily and Etna, the volcanic mountain peak with its eruption and the large billows of smoke spewing out. The poet also describes the voices of knowledge that compels him to kill the snake, as the black snakes in Sicily are non-poisonous while the yellow snakes are venomous.

Stanza 6 and 7: He talks about the voice in his head again, challenging him if he is a man he would finish him off. The voices re-echoed 'finish of the snake with a stick'. Later, D.H.Lawrence confesses that he liked the snake, and he was glad that it had visited his water-trough and that it was a silent guest for a drink. It departed peacefully but thankless back into the earth.

Stanza 8: The poet debates within him if it was his cowardice that kept him from killing it, or probably his perversity that urged him to talk to it. He ponders if it was his humility that made him feel honoured. Above all the different voices, a voice challenged him that if he was not afraid he would kill it.

Stanza 9: In this stanza the poet expresses emotions of fear and feelings of honour. Fear that the venomous snake was dangerous to let it go, and feelings of honour, since the snake had sought his hospitality.

Stanza 10: Here the poet describes the contented snake, after his drink from his water-trough looked around, like a god not seeing, and then the slow retreat of the reptile to its hole.

Stanza 11 and 12: As he stood there being honoured about the visit of a snake, and the lengthy reptile slowly disappearing a horror struck him. While the snake is climbing the broken bank of his wall-face, he had enough time to react and to make a quick decision to kill it. Placing down his pitcher, he braced himself, picked up a clumsy log, and hurled it at the water- trough with a clatter.

Stanza 13 and 14: The slow retreating body of the snake was then seen writhing and like lightning, in a flash it disappeared into the fissure, the dark hole from where it had appeared. Thus leaving the poet stares into space at his foolish act. For a moment regret engulfed him, his instant reaction and emotions reversed. He despised himself and the voices which bade him to kill the venomous reptile.

Stanza 15: As the poet says he thought of the ‘albatross’, the ‘albatross’ he could be talking about his emotional burden or guilt after attacking the innocent snake. Then the poet desires the venomous reptile to be his visitor once again.

Stanza 16 and 17: For this time the snake seemed to him like a king, a king in exile and one who has lost his crown in the underworld, waiting to be crowned again. He utters his regret of missing his chance with one of the lords of life. Though the reptile was venomous, yet for a moment the idea of a king graced it, one which was due for its crown. Then thoughts of highness and majesty about the snake command his inner soul to make amends for his rash behaviour. So he utters regret and pardon in his last statement. He had something to expiate for his irritable action when he picked up the clumsy log to kill the snake.

CRITICAL APPRECIATION

The novels as well as the poems of Lawrence are marked with his hatred for mechanical way of living. His hatred is directed against man’s lust for money and his lust for affected love. He wanted love to be strong and animal but not lustful. He hated reason and the use of mind in everything. He is for old simple and plain life of ancient days. He holds that the old civin is better that the industrial civilization.

One hot summer day, the poet happened to see snake, drinking water from his water container. The poet was coming downstairs to fill his pitcher with water. The water container was lying under the scented shade of a carob tree. The snake came here from a hole in the wall. The poet did not come downstairs. He was afraid of the snake. The snake was beautiful to look at. It den skin. It rested his throat on the edge of the stone water container. Her sipped water with his straight mount and passed it into his long body, silently.

The snake lifted his head form drinking as cattle do. Then he pushed his two forked tongue form his lips and mused form a moment. He stooped and drunk a little a more. The poet was terrified to see the snake. His education told him to kill him because the snakes of Sicily were known to be poisonous and dangerous. It guided him to take a stick and finish him off to prove hery and manhood. But the poet liked the snake because he was beautiful and also a great. It was cowardice on his part to kill the snake. It was not perversity that he wanted to talk to him. He considered it an honour not to harm his guest.

The snake drank the water again and felt satisfied. He began to draw into the hole or the wall. As the snake was entering his body into the hole, the poet felt great horror at it. It did not hit the snake but the last part of his body seemed to be disturbed by it. The snake rushed at into the hole and disappeared. The poet felt ashamed of his mean act and considered it to be the product of his education.

The poem can be interpreted on many levels. The snake in the poem represents the forces of darkness, brutality and ignorance. These forces harm man no doubt, but they should be crushed with power and authority. They must be conquered by the use of creative and intuitive powers. The poet has drawn the conflict power the uses of rational power intuitive powers. The poet listens to his rational voice and attacks the snake only to regret his mean and vulgar act.

The snake becomes a king, a lord of the underworld and a god. The poet is reduced to shabby human beings who feel remorse at his mean act. The poet feels that he must expiate for his pettiness. The use of the word expiation suggests that he looks upon his act as a violation of a religious bond.



READING MATERIAL

D.H. Lawrence's Snake is an interesting poem. Lawrence paints a vivid picture of the snake at the trough, yet it seems as if it is a metaphor. Lawrence seems to be mocking society through his use of the snake. The snake represents the upper class while he, D.H. Lawrence, is just a middle class worker. In Stanza's 1 and 2, Lawrence begins by describing that the snake arrived at the trough first and that he therefore must await his turn. There is no hint that the man fears the snake, but instead there seems to be a respect that provides the man with the patience to wait his turn. As the poem continues, Lawrence paints a picture of the snake. In stanza 5 he states that the snake came from "the burning bowls of the earth." This could be an allusion to hell or even a reflection by man that he does not actually respect the social rankings and only does so for lack of choice. In stanza's 6 and 7 he struggles with his conscience and the idea of killing the snake. This could parallel to social rankings because the under classes may always be thinking of a way to "kill" the upper class; revolts, wars, uprisings etc. Since the man does not kill the snake, we see that he has succumbs to the social conventions and is in fact going to wait his turn as any peasant would in society.

When Lawrence says "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" it parallels to society. The rich people, being the snake, would drink from the trough first feeling no remorse for the middle class man waiting in their presence. The middle class person, feeling as if he should show the rich person from their trough, instead feels honoured to have such nobility around, and as Lawrence later states, is actually afraid to fight back. D.H. Lawrence is combating social structure through the symbolic use of a snake. Eventually the man acknowledges that is indeed fear of the snake, not respect that has him waiting. He hurls a log at the snake. The snake, shocked and angry, leaves the trough; but we end up feeling remorse for the snake. Having done nothing wrong, the snake seems like a kind animal, when in reality we know it is not. This could reflect society because people were aware that the upper classes were sneaky like snakes but instead chose to believe that they did not fear them but instead respected them. The man regrets throwing the log as he feels like he has missed out on a memory with a majestic creature.

Most people would not think of a snake as a majestic creature, but D.H. Lawrence makes it clear in this poem that he does. Many people would take a snake to symbolize sin and evil as seen in the Bible and the Garden of Eden, but actually Lawrence is using it in a majestic and noble light. Perhaps this is the case because he is paralleling society and the nobility can be sneaky and sinful yet still seem majestic, just like the snake.

"And I have some to expiate, a pettiness" is the last and most powerful line of the poem. Expiate is such a strong word meaning repent or atone. The man wants to atone for his sin. He regrets throwing the log at the snake as he realized that the snake was not going to harm him. He wants to repent his pettiness and atone for the sin he has committed.

The use of the word expiate and the talk of atoning for sins leads one to understand that religion is indeed a theme in this poem. The use of the snake as a symbol and the battle between good and evil in this poem are all reasons that religion can be seen as an undertone. The battle of good vs. evil is on going in the Bible and can be seen here in this poem, if not only just in the symbol of the snake itself but also in the interaction between the snake and the man being that the man believes he is good vs. the snake whom he believes to be evil.



BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://vusolutions.com/tag/solitary-reaper-by-william-wordsworth-ba-english-paper-a-english-poetry-poems-notes-summaries/#ixzz23DiLkIhU

http://www.knowledge4africa.com/english/poetry/snake-b.jsp

http://www.online-literature.com/dh_lawrence/

http://britlitwiki.wikispaces.com/Snake

http://olgakhumlo.hubpages.com/hub/Exposition-of-Snake-by-D-H-Lawrence