Snake

D.H. Lawernce

Stanza I

A snake came to my water- troughOn a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heatTo drink there. In the deep, strange-scented shade of the great dark carbot-treeI came down the steps with my pitcherAnd must wait, must stand and wait, for there he was at the trough beforeme.

Stanza I

• Tone and Setting – Causal and direct, observer • “pyjamas” • “in the trough before me”• “And must wait, must stand and wait”

– Mediterranean • “hot, hot”

– Repetition for effect

• “pyjamas for the heat”

Stanza I

• Tone and Characterization• Snake – Cool and calm • “deep, strange-scented shade of the great dark carob-

tree”

– Sets tone and mood in description of surroundings– Exemplifies speaker’s visualization of animal world – Draws reader in to speaker’s viewpoint

Stanza II

He reached down from a fissure in the earth-wall in the gloomAnd trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down, over the edge of the stone troughAn 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 body. Silently.

Stanza II

• Tone and Setting – Juxtaposition of hot and cold• “gloom”• “stone” repeated • “water”

– Coolness and sleekness of the snake – Loose verses echoes movement of snake

Stanza II

• Beauty and majesty of nature and animal world

• Observation of reverence and detail – “trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied

down”– “Softly drank through his straight gums, into his

slack long body”• Imagery• Alliteration

Stanza III

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

• Speaker is subservient to the snake • Theme– Power of hierarchy

Stanza IV

He lifted his head from his drinking, as cattle do,And looked at me vaguely, as drinking cattle do, And flicked his two-forked tongue from his lips, and mused a moment, And stooped and drank a little more, Being earth-brow, earth-golden from the burning bowels of the earth On the day of Sicilian July with Etna smokingThe voice of my my education said to me He must be killed, For in Sicily the black, black snakes are innocent, the gold are venomous.

Stanza IV

• Characterization of Nature – “as cattle do…as drinking cattle do”• Innocent and harmless creature

– “And looked at me vaguely”• Observant, refined

Stanza IV

• Characterization of Snake – Personification

• “vaguely”• “mused”• “stooped”

– Creates human-like characteristics

– Imagery and alliteration • “flicked his two-forked tongue from his lips”• “Being earth-brown, earth-golden from the burning bowels of

earth

– Elusive– Symbol of evil?

Stanza IV

• Shift in Speaker – “The voice of my education said to me

He must be killed,”• Shock of realism • Voice of education- learned behaviors/ beliefs

– “For in Sicily the black, black snakes are innocent, the gold are venomous”• What society deems acceptable

Stanza V

And voices in me said, if you were a manYou would take a stick and break him now, and finish him off.

Stanza V

• Shift – Observer to action • “take”• “break”• “finish”

– Contrast to earlier unhurried, relaxed pace of earlier stanzas

Stanza VI

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-troughAnd depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless,Into the burning bowels of this earth?

Stanza VII

• Shift– “But”

• Admiration for nature– True feelings– “come like a guest in quiet”

• Characterization of Snake/ Diction– “peaceful” – “pacified”– “thankless”

Stanzas VII-IX

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 honourned.

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 moreThat he should seek my hospitalityFrom out the dark door of the secret earth.

Stanzas VII- IX

• Symbol of Snake – Evil – Humans naturally attracted to evil and corruption – Inner feeling of guilt for wanting to befriend the snake

– Urgency of “voice”• “If you were not afraid, you would kill him!”

– Ominous Tone • “From out the dark door of the secret earth.”

– Struggle between rational and natural feelings

Stanza X

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 turned his head, And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice adream, Proceeded to draw his slow length curving roundAnd climb again the broken bank of my wall-face.

Stanza X

• Characterization of Snake – Repetition • “slowly”

– Simile • “And looked around like a god”

– Diction• “dreamily”

Stanza XI

And 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.

Stanza XI

• Snake continues indifference as it leaves– “slowly drew up”

• Contrast of speaker’s feelings – “A sort of horror, a sort of protest against his

withdrawing into that horrid black hole,”• Lacks power over snake

Stanza XII- XIII

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

I think it did not hit him, But suddenly that part of his that was left behind convulsed in undignified haste. Writhed like lightning, and was goneInto the black hole, the earth-lipped fissure in the wall-front,At which, in the intense still noon, I started with fascination.

Stanza XII- XIII

• Voice– Masculine and superior – Society/education prevails

– “threw it at the water-trough with a clatter.”• Savagery contrasts with civility of assumed society • Humanity’s underlying evil nature?

Stanzas XII- XIII

• Shift – “But suddenly”– “Writhed like lightning”• Power of the snake • Returns to love and majestic beauty of nature

Stanza XIV- Stanzas XV

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 of the albatrossAnd I wished he would come back, my snake

Stanza XIV-XV

• Diction– “immediately”– “regretted”– “paltry”– “vulgar”– “mean act”• Blames aspects of society and human nature • Needless pain and hurt • Allusion to albatross

Stanzas XVI- XVII

For he seemed to me again like a king, Like a king in exile, uncrowned in the underworld, Now due t be crowned again.

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

Stanzas XVI-XVII

• Characterization – “like a king,/ Like a king in exile…”• Power of hierarchy • King of his hole in exile from humanity

– Humanity • “pettiness”

Themes

• Unity co-existence between man and animal • Guilt and regret • Patience • Harmless nature of animals