P 6: Snake (by D.H. Lawrence)
Q. The poet has a dual attitude towards the snake. Why does he experience conflicting emotions on seeing the snake?
A. When the poet first sees the snake, he thinks of the snake as a magnificent, quasi-harmless creature. He gives it as much respect as he gives to any other human. But soon the 'voice of education', i.e. the man-centric education challenges the poet to kill the snake lest he lacks the courage to do so.
Q. Why did the snake flicker its tongue? And what does the poet compare it to?
A. The snake uses its tongue as a sense organ. It flickers its tongue to check whether its surroundings are safe or not. The poet compares this flickering to lightning. The lightning on a dark night is easily comparable to the snake's tongue and its realm of the underworld.
Q. RTC
"And immediately I regretted it
I thought how paltry, how vulgar, what 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."
i) What was the poet's reaction after he hit the snake with a log?
A.i) The poet experienced a feeling of regret immediately after hitting the snake. He lamented assaulting the snake, whom he considered a king of the underworld.
ii) How did the poet feel after his action?
A.ii) The poet was disgusted with his action. He felt that his act was vulgar, trivial and mean
iii) Why does the poet call human education accursed?
A.iii) The poet calls human education 'accursed' because it was this very man-centred, selfish and misleading education which made the poet attack the magnificent yet harmless snake.
iv) What does the albatross symbolise?
A.iv) The albatross symbolises feelings of guilt and lamentation. After hitting the snake, the poet compared himself to the Ancient Mariner who had committed a similar sin and had faced the same sense of remorse.
NCERT
Q. 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.)
A. The poet decides to wait as he takes the snake as his guest who has come to quench his thirst. Secondly, he feels he is the second comer he must wait for his chance as the snake was the first one to reach the trough. This shows that the poet is civilised and mannered.
Q. 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?
A. In stanza 2 and 3, we get to know about the movement and the colour of the snake. The snake was moving in a relaxed and leisurely manner, he had straight gums and he was yellowish brown in colour.
Q. How does the poet describe the day and the atmosphere when he saw the snake?
A. The day was very hot and the Mt. Etna was smoking which added to the heat of that Sicilian summer day. The heat was so scorching that the poet had to wear his pyjamas.
Q. What does the poet want to convey by saying that the snake emerges from the 'burning bowels of the earth'?
A. By the burning bowels of the earth, the poet refers to the underground hot burrow where the snake lived. To get relief from the scorching heat of the day to quench its thirst the snake came out of its underground quarters.
Q. Do you think the snake was conscious of the poet's presence? How do you know?
A. After drinking water the snake like a cattle vaguely looked here and there. The snake was relaxed and wasn't surveying its surrounding and thus the poet got unnoticed by the tension-free snake.
Q. How do we know that the snake's thirst was satiated? Pick out the expressions that convey this.
A. The snake came to the water trough to satisfy its thirst. There are many expressions to prove this. ' He lifted his head from drinking like cattle do', 'He stooped and stooped little more', 'he drank enough', 'lifted his head dreamily'. These expressions are enough to prove that the snake had quenched its thirst.
Q. The poet has a dual attitude towards the snake. Why does he experience conflicting emotions on seeing the snake?
A. The poet has a dual attitude towards the snake because of the conflict between his human education and natural instinct. The human education told that this snake is poisonous but his natural instinct was happy to see the snake.
Q. RTC
"And immediately I regretted it
I thought how paltry, how vulgar, what 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."
i) What was the poet's reaction after he hit the snake with a log?
A.i) The poet experienced a feeling of regret immediately after hitting the snake. He lamented assaulting the snake, whom he considered a king of the underworld.
ii) How did the poet feel after his action?
A.ii) The poet was disgusted with his action. He felt that his act was vulgar, trivial and mean
iii) Why does the poet call human education accursed?
A.iii) The poet calls human education 'accursed' because it was this very man-centred, selfish and misleading education which made the poet attack the magnificent yet harmless snake.
iv) What does the albatross symbolise?
A.iv) The albatross symbolises feelings of guilt and lamentation. After hitting the snake, the poet compared himself to the Ancient Mariner who had committed a similar sin and had faced the same sense of remorse.
NCERT
Q. 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.)
A. The poet decides to wait as he takes the snake as his guest who has come to quench his thirst. Secondly, he feels he is the second comer he must wait for his chance as the snake was the first one to reach the trough. This shows that the poet is civilised and mannered.
Q. 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?
A. In stanza 2 and 3, we get to know about the movement and the colour of the snake. The snake was moving in a relaxed and leisurely manner, he had straight gums and he was yellowish brown in colour.
Q. How does the poet describe the day and the atmosphere when he saw the snake?
A. The day was very hot and the Mt. Etna was smoking which added to the heat of that Sicilian summer day. The heat was so scorching that the poet had to wear his pyjamas.
Q. What does the poet want to convey by saying that the snake emerges from the 'burning bowels of the earth'?
A. By the burning bowels of the earth, the poet refers to the underground hot burrow where the snake lived. To get relief from the scorching heat of the day to quench its thirst the snake came out of its underground quarters.
Q. Do you think the snake was conscious of the poet's presence? How do you know?
A. After drinking water the snake like a cattle vaguely looked here and there. The snake was relaxed and wasn't surveying its surrounding and thus the poet got unnoticed by the tension-free snake.
Q. How do we know that the snake's thirst was satiated? Pick out the expressions that convey this.
A. The snake came to the water trough to satisfy its thirst. There are many expressions to prove this. ' He lifted his head from drinking like cattle do', 'He stooped and stooped little more', 'he drank enough', 'lifted his head dreamily'. These expressions are enough to prove that the snake had quenched its thirst.
Q. The poet has a dual attitude towards the snake. Why does he experience conflicting emotions on seeing the snake?
A. The poet has a dual attitude towards the snake because of the conflict between his human education and natural instinct. The human education told that this snake is poisonous but his natural instinct was happy to see the snake.
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