Upon reading and reflecting on the poem “Snake” by D.H. Lawrence, I couldn’t help but feel like the poem hearkens back to Emily Dickinson’s poems “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass” and even “A Bird, Came Down the Walk.” Like Dickinson’s poems there is a recognition of not only the beauty and majesty that is in nature but also the danger that lurks in the unknown. Lawrence’s “Snake”, like Dickinson’s poems, utilizes personification, not only to connect humankind to nature, but also to elevate the serpent to an almost human level. I will focus on the poem “Snake” by D.H Lawrence and explore the ways the speaker in the poem uses this personification, sound devices, allusion, language and even structure to convey the speakers reverence and fear of nature, more specifically the snake or subject in the natural realm. As “Snake” begins we are introduced to the speaker encountering this element of the wild, the snake. Early in the poem, the language utilizes the use of sound devices that not only immerse the reader in the scenario, but also the speaker at the level of the snake. Lines 4-13 simulate a snake’s hiss by employing words beginning with “S,” such as “strange-scented shade” (4), “steps” (5), “slackness soft” (9), “stone” (8-9), and “He sipped with his straight mouth/ Softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack long body/ Silently” (11-13). This poetic device is used later in the poem, however it not only simulates the hiss, but also the slither, “And slowly
However, the poem has fluidity despite its apparent scarcity of rhyme. After examining the alteration of syllables in each line, a pattern is revealed in this poem concerning darkness. The first nine lines alternate between 8 and 6 syllables. These lines are concerned, as any narrative is, with exposition. These lines set up darkness as an internal conflict to come. The conflict intensifies in lines 10 and 11 as we are bombarded by an explosion of 8 syllables in each line. These lines present the conflict within one's own mind at its most desperate. After this climax, the syllables in the last nine lines resolve the conflict presented. In these lines, Dickinson presents us with an archetypal figure that is faced with a conflict: the “bravest” hero. These lines present the resolution in lines that alternate between 6 and 7 syllables. Just as the syllables decrease, the falling action presents us with a final insight. This insight discusses how darkness is an insurmountable entity that, like the hero, we must face to continue “straight” through “Life” (line 20).
It is apparent from the first line of the poem that author is in a state of overriding fear travelling through the unknown: likening the road to an “old snake shedding its skin.” A snake is a clear representation of childhood fear and youthful paranoia, due to its intimidating nature. Walcott compares the path to a snake because he fears it just like a snake, to him the path is daunting and potentially deadly at first. The author not only compares the road to a snake but a snake shedding its skin. This paints a grotesque image for readers and illustrates how he views his initial journey with anything but enthusiasm. The author is in the unfamiliar wilderness searching for not only the storyteller’s house but himself. His state of childhood terror is only counterbalanced by his encounter with the storyteller.
When in times of danger, people must often take the actions they see best fit. In "The Rattler," the author depicts a vivid story of a man who has to make a difficult choice while facing a rattlesnake in the desert. Despite the man seeing a threat in the snake, it is him that becomes a threat to the other. By using the descriptions of the man, the snake and the specific setting, the author affects the reader by creating a sense of empathy for the narrator and sympathy for the snake. With such a connection, it adds a greater depth to the story for the reader to analyze.
The detail increases the power the snake exudes in the perspective of the man. “Children, dogs, and horses…who weren’t as strong” compared to the snake, created panic and fear, because of its “six powerful fangs” and “little
Portrayed as righteous by a sympathetic diction, the reader feels pity and pleased by the snake. When the man comes back with a hoe, the snake had “not moved”, but rather stayed still like a “live wire” when he “saw the hoe”. He did not move because he knows people do not want to mess with him and he does not want to trigger a fight. He is dangerous only if someone were to provoke or try to harm him. He will not attack unless he is forced to.
The third stanza describes the snake as “cool and gleaming as a braided whip” (9-10). Describing the snake as a braided whip demonstrates the intricate woven pattern of the snake’s scales and the poet’s appreciation for nature and its’ beauty. The snake is not a useless piece of rubber, but a beautiful and vibrant part of nature. “He is as beautiful and quiet as a bead brother” (10-11). The snake is quiet, makes no sound, and snuggles into
“Piano” and “Snake” in D.H Lawrence’s representations express an inner conflict; the troubles they face are based upon distinct and similar reasons, they want an escape to their present state. “Piano” and “Snake” in D.H Lawrence’s representations express an inner conflict; the troubles they face are for distinct and similar reasons; they want an escape to their present state. The interpretation received when analyzing “Piano” was that the narrator himself was having a troublesome time because he aspired something that was nostalgically unreachable for him, his childhood. What caused this inclination to be unreachable was due to the time passing which resulted in him becoming an adult and conforming to the constitutional systems. Snake’s narrator’s inner distress came from the need to break down the structural voices and principles that educational systems had constructed upon him. Both narrators have heavily built up emotions for the want of liberation from the prisons that confine them to the structures meant for them; their desires although differing in context are similar in topic matter. There are in fact differences in what they long for, but there is no doubt that they do desire something different from what they presently have.
Death of naturalist This poem is a fertile mixture of imagery, sounds and an impression created by nature on people’s mind. Heaney sensualises an outstanding fear of the physical wonders of the world. He vividly describes his childhood experience that precipitates his change as a boy from the receptive and protected innocence of childhood to the fear and uncertainty of adolescence. As he wonders along the pathways of salient discovery, Heaney’s imagination bursts into life.
Another aspect to this poem that is very important would be the figurative language. The author uses a lot of similes and metaphors throughout further illustrate this father’s ridiculous ways. The speaker uses the simile “snaked like dragons” to describe the fire engines, this was a good choice in comparison because when you think of a dragon you automatically think of bright fires and then when you continue on the thought you think of their crouched down tiptoes
The poem, “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass,” by Emily Dickinson is a collaboration of fear and intrigue. The poem is presented through a young boy as he makes his way through cool and damp grassland during the afternoon. The issue the young boy must deal with is the unwelcome encounter with a snake. From the first glimpse of the slithering snake the tone of the poem is set: an uneasiness mood followed by persistent fear. The combination of external conflict and dexterous imagery create the atmosphere of this poem.
In life, there are times when people come across someone or something intriguing; something most people do not see everyday. In this untitled poem by Emily Dickinson, the narrator describes an encounter with "A narrow Fellow in the Grass" (Dickinson, Line 1), but the narrator's tone from the beginning of the poem to the end changes drastically. In the beginning, the mood towards the snake is friendly, as the poem progresses the mood starts to change to that of an encounter with the snake, and by the end of the poem the tone suggests the narrator fears the snake. When analyzing this poem, the reader notices that the narrator changes the mood and the tone of the poem substantially as the poem progresses. In the beginning, the narrator
The poem suddenly becomes much darker in the last stanza and a Billy Collins explains how teachers, students or general readers of poetry ‘torture’ a poem by being what he believes is cruelly analytical. He says, “all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it”. Here, the poem is being personified yet again and this brings about an almost human connection between the reader and the poem. This use of personification is effective as it makes the
In “The Conqueror Worm,” Poe writes a compelling drama mankind’s tragic existence. Through biblical allusions and the metaphor of the worm, there is a prominent theme of death. The reference to a real play is shown as five stanzas in the poem parallel five acts in an average play.
In stanza 12 of the “Snake”, D.H. Lawrence describes with great lucid detail the god-like
The use of words like silently, softly, in the beginning when he is first describing the snake and the snake's motions, serve to get us into a quiet, observing mood. Then saying the snake "mused a moment" gives us the impression that the snake is "like a king", quiet and majestic. Again, later in the poem, using words such as dreamily and slowly, projecting that quiet atmosphere.