The poem snake is a beautiful, haunting description of an encounter between man and nature. Lawrence deals amazingly with the conflict of whether to choose between his education and kill the snake or his moral instinct telling him that the snake is a friend, not a foe. we have made this presentation to make others aware of this awesome poem, and we hope you learn a lot from this presentation. we have included, in the ppt, the analysis of the poem, a critical review, the battle between moral and educational reason, about the poet and his works etc too so that it will be easier for us to get a better grasp of Lawrence's feelings and thoughts.

1. SNAKE
By
David Herber
Lawrence

2. INTRODUCTION
The poem “The Snake” is a notable
poem by D. H. Lawrence that
provides us a glimpse into the
complexities of human nature that
bring us towards rational thinking.
This poem tells us the tale of a
person going to a water-trough
,who stumbles upon a snake. The
person is fascinated and feels
honoured that he was able to see
this magnificent sight. Yet his
upbringing and education tells that
the snake ought to be killed,

3. ANALYSIS
In the poem, Lawrence recalls the
time when he had been living in
Sicily during an extremely hot
summer. Feeling thirsty, the poet
had come to the water trough, only
to find that he was not the first
visitor there, as the lines, “ And
must wait, must stand and wait, for
there he was at the trough before
me.”, indicate.
There was a regal golden-brown
snake, drinking leisurely

4. We then realize from the lines, “
looked at me vaguely, as drinking
cattle do” and “ mused a moment”,
that the snake has seen the poet
standing there and does not
consider him to be a threat. The
day is very hot and the volcano is
smoking as it is the middle of
July, so perhaps the snake too
feels lazy and simply wishes to
quench his thirst.
Lawrence recalls that he had been
taught that in Sicily, “ the black,
black snakes are innocent and the
gold are venomous.”The accursed
voices within him told him that he
had to act „manly‟ and should kill

5. Then, in the poet‟s mind, there
starts a battle between his
morality and his social
conditioning. On one hand, his
education tells him to kill the
snake, as we can see by the
virtue of the lines, “If you were
a man, you would take a stick
and break him now, and finish
him off.” and “ If you were not
afraid, you would kill him”. The
narrator confesses that he was
afraid, but honoured even more
and felt that he would somehow

6. But then as the snake begins to draw
back into its home, “ a sort of
horror, a sort of protest” forms in
the poet‟s mind and he lets himself
be guided by his instinct. Now that
Lawrence could no longer see the
snake‟s peaceful and docile face, the
urge to do something overcomes him
and he picks up a “ clumsy log and
throws it at the water trough with a
clatter”.
Though the stick does not hit the
snake, but being alarmed, it “
convulses in undignified haste.” and
swiftly slithers into the security of

7. Now, the poet makes an allusion to S. T.
Coleridge‟s „ Rime of the Ancient
Mariner‟ by referring to the snake as
his own personal albatross. In the same
way that the mariner had acted on
impulse and killed the albatross,
resulting in the terrible way in which
the sailors had to suffer, D. H.
Lawrence too had driven away the
snake. He wishes that “he would come
back, my snake.”, so that the poet could
atone for his evil act and regain the
snake‟s trust. The snake had seemed to
him like a king and he had, in an act of
foolish desperation, driven it away and

8. CRITICAL APPRECIATION
The poem “Snake” by D. H. Lawrence
is a fascinating text written in free
verse that deals with the
complexities of the human mind and
the ways in which man faces with
them.
The poet builds the poem in Sicily,
Italy and conveys the soaring
temperature through the words“Etna smoking” and “burning bowels
of the earth”. Lawrence‟s raw
language and creativity with the
imageries is remarkable, adorned by
the persona‟s allusions and dilemmas

9. “He
lifted his head from his drinking,
as cattle do, And looked at me
vaguely, as drinking cattle do”. It is
then that the poet‟s accursed human
education steps in and makes him
question his present dealings and
urges him to finish off the “fatal”
snake. But just as easily, we find him
again slipping off to the world where
the snake is just another harmless,
magnificent creation of god. The
persona becomes the medium of the
portrayal of a battle of the mind and
the heart, that of the Adam created

10. vices, the persona hits it with a stick
and momentarily and we find the new
age victorious. But immediate guilt and
self-loathing for the cavalier act ensue
and he falls to his knees begging the
snake to return so to redeem “the
uncrowned king”. Abashed by his
deeds, he despises himself for giving in
to the worse half.

11. THEME/MESSAGE
In the poem, 'Snake„, D.H. Lawrence shows
that instinct is superior to the reasoning of
mind. He was strangely attracted by the
dignified and quiet way of the snake and
accepted it as an esteemed and respected
guest. Lawrence was essentially a moralist
who believed that the modern man was
gradually becoming devoid of his natural
feelings. It points out the poet‟s
fascination towards the snake, since it was
not blinded by prejudice like man, but
instead was guided by instinct. The poem
brings out several different layers of

12. thinking. The poem arouses the feeling
of love and sympathy for all creatures in
the world. It was the accursed human
education that urged the poet to kill the
snake to satisfy his social needs. He has
no right to deprive others from their
right to live. Although the poet hits the
snake, he feels sorry for his act. So we
see that man's natural instinct prevail at
the end. He equates his education with
the forces of ignorance, cruelty and
vulgarity.. The poet seeks religious
atonement for his pettiness in hurting the
snake who had not harmed him in anyway,
thus concluding that one must follow his

13. EDUCATIONAL FACTS
V/S
MORAL INSTINCT
The poem "Snake" by D.H. Lawrence is an
interesting text that deals with the
complexities of human nature that brings
towards our rational thinking. In his poem
"Snake," DH Lawrence examines the
conflict between education, or accepted
attitudes, and the desires the people often
hold. The poem develops around
the speaker's unexpected meeting with a
snake. Fear and fascination take control as
he is left with the internal struggle
between rational and his natural feelings.
It highlights the difference between our

14. But the symbolism of the snake cannot be
ignored and suggests that Lawrence may
have been exploring something other
than simply this snake On the positive,
we learn that the person has a
conscience. Even after the person
tried to attack the snake "I picked up
a clumsy log and threw it at the watertrough" We learn the person regrets
this action. For at the closing of the
poem the person regrets this petty
act, is ashamed with what the person
has done. "How paltry, how vulgar,
what a mean act!" We know that the
person's natural instinct, the

15. The poem contains a battle between awhat
education has told us to do and what our
moral instinct prompts us to do. The poem
comes to the conclusion that what we have
always unquestioningly followed, fed to us by
our tutors and textbooks may not be the
best route to take. One must also believe in
his or her own moral and natural instinct
which most often does not lead us astray
However, some may disagree with the poet‟s
views, which is ordinary since everybody
cannot see the world through the poet‟s
eyes. They may argue that what the
textbooks have told us has been seen from
experiments and facts, and perhaps our
morality may cause us harm.

16. FIGURES OF SPEECH
 PERSONIFICATION-
The entire poem is a personification,
with Lawrence referring to the
snake as „He‟ and not „It‟. The
personification creates an effect of
the snake being not an animal but
instead a human being, perceived as
a friend and not a natural enemy.
Some examples being“For there he was, at the trough

17.  ALLITERATION-
The alliteration used in the poem creates a
beautiful, haunting imagery that adds to
the flow and melody of Lawrence‟s poem.
“Strange scented shade of great dark
carob tree”
“Into the burning bowels of this earth”
“Dark door of the secret earth”
 REPITITIONSIn the poem “The Snake”, the use of
repetition has shaped a lingering picture
of actions and feelings that one has often
felt in his musings. Repetitions also
emphasize the word to remind us of its

18. SIMILED.H.Lawrence has used in his poem, some vivid and
artistic examples of similes to describe the
scene of the encounter of man and nature.
“Like a second comer”
“He lifted his head from his drinking as cattle do”
“Looked around like a god”
“For he seemed to me like a king”
“Like a king in exile”
 IMAGERYThe use of imagery helps the readers to better
understand the poet‟s state of mind and the
scene in which the poem is set.
“Etna smoking”
“Burning bowels”


19.  METAPHOR-
The use of metaphors has provided us
with a subtle description that one
has to dig deep in to find the
connection. However, metaphors in
Lawrence‟s poem have enhanced the
surreal quality of this scene.
“And I thought of the albatross
And I wished he would come back,
my snake.”
“ I missed my chance with one of the
lords
Of life.”

20. ABOUT THE POET
David Herbert Lawrence‟s writing is notable
for its intensity and its sensuality. All of
Lawrence‟s works are written in a lyrical,
sensuous, often rhapsodic prose style. He
had an extraordinary ability to convey a
sense of specific time and place, and his
writings often reflected his complex
personality. He believed in writing poetry
that was stark, immediate and true to the
mysterious inner force which motivated it.
Many of his best-loved poems treat the
physical and inner life of plants and animals;
others are bitterly satiric and express his

21. D.H. LAWRENCE’S WORKS
IN POETRY
Poetry
Amores (1916)
Bay (1919)
Birds, Beasts and Flowers (1923)
Complete Poems (1957)
Fire and Other Poems (1940)
Last Poems (1932)
Look! We Have Come Through (1917)
Love Poems and Others (1913)
Nettles (1930)
Pansies (1929)
Poems (1939)
The Ship of Death (1933)
Tortoises (1921)

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