Snake- D. H. Lawrence

David Herbert Lawrence was born in 1985 near Nottingham in the English Midlands. He occupies a unique position among the leading modernist writers of the generation that came of age before the outbreak of First World War. D. H. Lawrence is best known for his novels and short stories, he was also a fine poet who wrote free verse. His poetry concentrates on the life-giving force of nature and exalts the physical and instinctual over the purely intellectual. During his time, Political and social discrimination was the major issue. So he has exposed those issues through this poetry.

In the first line of this poem,” A snake came to my water-trough” (1), he mentioned that a snake came to his water tap to drink water without his permission. Here he compared the snake with (higher) upper class people who never asked any permission to do anything. He revealed the season to be summer that he wore pyjamas for heat. The author as a third person stand aside with his pitcher and waited till the snake drinks water. In third stanza, the poet described about the snake, its colour, its shape, and its structure, and the way it drank the water. At that moment the poet felt himself to be a second person, and the snake captured the first place. In the following lines, “Someone was before me at my water-trough, / And I, like a second comer, waiting”(16-17), the reader compares this with the Bible which says, how the place was given to the human beings by God was occupied by Satan in the form of snake. Similarly, here this snake occupied the place of the poet and made him a second comer. Even though the poet was a second comer, he waited for the snake to drink water stand aside and watching it. The poet compares the act of the snake drinking water to cattle.

            Though the poet was enjoying the beauty of snake, but his inner educated mind asked him to kill it, where in Sicily Golden Snakes were said to be poisonous, so the author’s inner voice continuously stimulated him to take a stick and finish him off, if he was a man. Then, the author confessed that he killed the snake, he thought that snake would be a silent guest who came so peacefully and quietly to his water-trough and drank water without even thanking him. Then the poet raised questions to himself, about the coward in him which his inner voice told. But he felt so honoured still the voices asked him to kill the snake. The inner voice of the poet tempted him to kill the snake by telling that he was afraid of the snake and he agreed to be afraid because he cared for the snake for a lot.

             After drinking water the snake climbed again the broken wall and it was trying to enter in to a hole. The lines, “I picked up a clumsy log / And threw it at the water trough with a clatter” (67-68)., express how a guest is been hurt that suddenly the author dropped his pitcher and picked a clumsy log and threw it at the water-trough thinking that the log had not hit the snake but the snake got into the hole very fast. The poet felt bad for his act and cursed himself to be so rude to snake. Here, the reader expresses his views with the Bible which says “Love Your Enemy,” and treat them with full of care when they come to house. So it is the duty of the author to give complete care and hospitality even though the snake was his unexpected guest. But the author failed to do his responsibility. In this hot summer this snake came to drink water peacefully to save its life. The poet could have let it go but by throwing the log at snake the author failed in his humanity and his responsibility towards his guest.

            Hence the reader concludes by saying that the poet has spoiled the day to day activity of the snake which he does peacefully.