Snake by D.H. Lawrence
Hillary Taylor
English 1302/Vasbinder
June 9, 2012
Essay 1/TPCAST/Final
I’m Sorry My Snake In the poem “Snake,” D.H. Lawrence will discuss someone who has wronged him or done something deceitful to him. As one can see in the following paragraph, Lawrence’s poem “Snake,” is about the narrator’s encounter with a venomous snake at a water trough. The narrator appears to be a man who owns the water trough, and comes to it quite often. Once he arrives at the trough, the narrator sees that he must wait because a snake has come there for water as well. The snake turns to look at the narrator slowly, flickers his tongue at him, and turns back to finish drinking. The narrator’s mind is telling him that he should kill the snake, because he has been told that the colors this species have mean that it is poisonous. Although his mind is telling him this, the narrator does not want to kill it because he is pleased that it has come to him for water. Because of the snake’s dangerous reputation, the narrator feels very afraid, yet he enjoys being in the snake’s presence and even longs to talk to the creature. The snake then slowly starts back into the dark hole in the wall where it came from. As the snake turns around, the narrator picks up a log and throws it at the snake, attempting to kill it, however, he only cuts part of it off. The narrator then has feelings of regret and remorse for doing something so cruel. He wants the snake to come back but knows it will not and this upsets him greatly. Throughout the poem “Snake,” Lawrence uses mostly clear language to express his ideas, except for a few lines, as one can see in this paragraph. The narrator and the snake are both at a “water-trough” (l.1), which is a vessel where water is stored, in which livestock or people, can drink from. When describing the snake glancing at him, the narrator says, “And flickered his two-forked tongue from his lips, and mused a moment” (l.19). When the narrator says mused, he means that
English 1302/Vasbinder
June 9, 2012
Essay 1/TPCAST/Final
I’m Sorry My Snake In the poem “Snake,” D.H. Lawrence will discuss someone who has wronged him or done something deceitful to him. As one can see in the following paragraph, Lawrence’s poem “Snake,” is about the narrator’s encounter with a venomous snake at a water trough. The narrator appears to be a man who owns the water trough, and comes to it quite often. Once he arrives at the trough, the narrator sees that he must wait because a snake has come there for water as well. The snake turns to look at the narrator slowly, flickers his tongue at him, and turns back to finish drinking. The narrator’s mind is telling him that he should kill the snake, because he has been told that the colors this species have mean that it is poisonous. Although his mind is telling him this, the narrator does not want to kill it because he is pleased that it has come to him for water. Because of the snake’s dangerous reputation, the narrator feels very afraid, yet he enjoys being in the snake’s presence and even longs to talk to the creature. The snake then slowly starts back into the dark hole in the wall where it came from. As the snake turns around, the narrator picks up a log and throws it at the snake, attempting to kill it, however, he only cuts part of it off. The narrator then has feelings of regret and remorse for doing something so cruel. He wants the snake to come back but knows it will not and this upsets him greatly. Throughout the poem “Snake,” Lawrence uses mostly clear language to express his ideas, except for a few lines, as one can see in this paragraph. The narrator and the snake are both at a “water-trough” (l.1), which is a vessel where water is stored, in which livestock or people, can drink from. When describing the snake glancing at him, the narrator says, “And flickered his two-forked tongue from his lips, and mused a moment” (l.19). When the narrator says mused, he means that