pls tell me:why was the snake compared to the king?

The word, 'king' refers to the snake. The poet takes the snake to be his dignified guest. He also shows his respect for it. The snake is been praised as "A golden bellied king of the earth" in the beginning of the poem. The snake is thus considered to be royal. These are the various thoughts that occur in the poet's mind. The snake as he enters the hole is considered to be in exile. The poet believes this because he feels that the snake has left its rightful place and it was only because of the poet that his guest had been forcibly sent away. He also feels that he missed his chance of treating the lord(snake) as an honoured guest.