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can any one give me the summary of snake by d.h. lawrence pls its urgent

Here is a brief summary of the poem Snake by D.H.Lawrence:

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 pyjamas 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 inline 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 “Etna smoking”, which are both historical events. The echo of his voices tempted 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 and 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 clumsy 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.

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 The poet describes how, when he came down to get water on a hot day, he saw a snake already there drinking water. He is fascinated by the quietness and beauty of the snake and thinks of it as a guest who had honoured him by coming to his water trough. His training and education tell him that such golden snakes are poisonous and must be killed, but something ( his cowardice or his perversity ) stops him from hitting the snake. He catches the snake as it gradually withdraws into a crack in the wall, and then, in a moment of weakness, hits the snake with a log of wood. The snake quickly disappears and the poet is overcome with a sense of guilt at his meanness in trying to kill the snake which had only come to drink water and not to harm him. The poet feels as if he has committed a sin and must atone for it like the Ancient Mariner who had killed the albatross.

 



HOPE DIS HELPSS :) :)

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In this moving poem, D.H. Lawrence recalls a time in 1923 when he was living in Sicily. Lawrence, our narrator, is thirsty and goes out into the courtyard to fetch some water from his trough (at that time plumbing was not invented). He receives a surprise when he sees a golden-brown snake drinking peacefully at his trough. He then thinksto kill the snake, as the snake represents the devil, and tempts human beings in genesis. However, his inner nature tells him that the snake is not to be feared, as all it is doing is peacefully drinking and will depart soon. This poem is really a battle between human nature and conditioning. The narrator has been taught to kill poisonous snakes- not all snakes. It's a dangerous animal, and his first instinct is to kill it because that is what he was taught. Kill the snake before it kills you. However, the snake is only drinking peacefully and so the narrator is then conflicted. On one hand he's fascinated by the creature and doesn't want to harm it if it isn't aggressive, yet the voices continue to tell him to kill it. He thinks himself a coward for not doing so. And finally In the end he attempts to kill the snake only to deeply regret it, because he struck first without being provoked. And he feels that he has committed a sin and regrets for doing so.

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If u need a little more detailing.....then (D.H. Lawrence uses repetition to emphasize repeatedly the fact that the snake may not be as bad as we humans believe. He says: 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? This gives a striking effect of repeated loops, and leads us to consider our own misgivings.but on other hand Consider this: He lifted his head from his drinking, as cattle do, and looked at me vaguely, as drinking cattle do. This emphasizes that the snake is actually more harmless than they seem to be. Repetition also reinforces his own conditioning as shown here. This shows how confused the poet is, On one side he feels he should do so and other side he doesn't want to do so.)

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well written !

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 Thankzz :) :)

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