Snake by D. H. Lawrence.

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 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.
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 through came for the
same purpose in his pygamas to avoid the “heat”. The poet is said to be coming
from his “strange – scented shade” with a “pitcher” in his hand. On getting to his
water – through, meeting the snake, he sees it as an obligation to “stand and
wait” for the snake because it was there before it.
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
stone rested its “throat upon the stone bottom” and started drinking softly its
mouth into “his slack long body”. The poet referred to himself s a “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 is throat from his drinking, as cattle do, and
looked at him vaguely, as drinking cattle do” All these the snake did without
giving notice or concentration to whom might be watching.
The poet recollected the “voice” of his education and said to him that he
must kill the snake, “for in Sicily the black, black snakes are innocent, the gold
are venomous”. This implies that the poet beliefs that black snakes are
harmless while gold snakes are harmful, making an allusion to “Sicilian July”
and “Enta smoking”, which are both historical events. The echoe of his voices
empted him to kill the snake if he were really a man, but which he latter refused,
believing that the snake should “should seek hospitality” in him. For sparing the
snake, the poet felt so honoured.
The snake having considered been hospitalized, “drank enough an 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 the hole without any fear.
Suddenly, the poet looked around and put down his pitcher, “picked up a
clumpsy 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”.
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.

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.

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 was expressed.

FIGURATIVE EXPRESSION
Anaphora: “And slowly” {line 46 & 47}, “And as he” {line 51 & 52}, “And I”
{line 67 & 68}
Repetition: “hot” {line 2}, “must” {line 6}, “earth” {line 20}, “afraid” {line
37}, “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” {line 10}
THEME
1. Unity co-existence between man and animal
2. Patience
3. harmless attitude of animals
4. Regret
5. Hospitality