Question

Snake

Hint:

'Snake' by D.H. Lawrence is a poem that explores the themes of nature, guilt, and human impulses. It reflects the speaker's inner conflict between respecting the snake's role in nature and the urge to kill it.

Answer 1

Summary: D.H. Lawrence's poem "Snake" explores the conflict between natural instinct and societal conditioning. On a hot day, the poet encounters a magnificent golden-brown snake drinking at his water-trough. His initial reaction is one of awe and respect for the creature. However, the "voice of his education" tells him that venomous snakes must be killed. He battles with this internal conflict and, in a moment of panic, throws a log at the snake as it retreats. He immediately regrets his "paltry, vulgar" act and is left with a sense of guilt, feeling he has a pettiness to atone for, having missed his chance with a lord of life.