Question

Summary of poem snake class 10 english literature..

Answer 1

Snake” can be understood on two levels, as narrative and as symbol. On the simpler level, a Lawrence-like speaker encounters a snake at “his” water trough. Rapt by nearly hypnotic fascination, he allows the snake to drink, without taking action. Soliloquizing like Hamlet, the speaker wonders whether he is a coward not to kill the snake, because in Sicily the gold snakes are venomous. The snake continues to drink until, satisfied, it climbs the broken bank of the wall face, puts its head into “that dreadful hole,” and withdraws “going into blackness.” At this point, the speaker throws a log at the water trough yet fails to hit the snake. Immediately, he regrets his “pettiness” and wishes that the snake would come back, for it seemed to be like a king. The speaker has missed his chance with “one of the lords of life.”

Answer 2

D. H. Lawrence is well-known as a novelist, critic, poet, story-writer and painter. He composed this poem in 1923 and gives the details when he was confronted by a snake in Sicily.  

The poem is written in free verse and is unrhymed. A snake visited the poet’s water-trough on a hot afternoon to quench his thirst. The poet had also gone there to fill water in a pitcher. He waited for the snake since he had come at the trough prior to the poet.  

The snake sipped water into his long body. As he was drinking water, the poet was reminded of his education and social conventions which said that the golden brown poisonous snake must be killed.  

However, the poet instinctively liked the snake, treated him like a guest and did not kill him. The voice of education inside the poet told him that it was the fear of the snake that made him refrain from killing him.  

After drinking water to its satisfaction, the snake raised his head, looked around and proceeded to curve round and move away from the water trough.  

As he put his head into the hole to retreat into the earth, the poet was filled with a protest against the idea of the snake withdrawing into his hole. The poet put down his pitcher, picked up a log and hurled it at the snake. The snake twisted violently and vanished into the hole.  

The poet instantly felt sorry for this act and cursed the voice that had urged him to kill the snake. He felt much like the Ancient Mariner who had killed the Albatross for no reason.  

He wished that the snake would come back. He regretted having missed the opportunity of knowing one of the lords of life. He was guilt-ridden and felt that he had to atone for the measure of his action of throwing a log at the snake.