Analysis on The Snake by D.H. Lawrence

Structure and Style
1. Write the human characteristics Lawrence uses to describe the snake? Sometimes Lawrence uses nouns to personify the snake; the other times he uses verbs or parts of sentences.

It is very interesting that Lawrence gave human characteristics to the snake. The lines: “He sipped with his straight mouth,/Softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack long body,/Silently./Someone was before me at my water-trough,” suggest that the snake seems to have etiquette of its own just like a human being. Lawrence used the verbs sipped and drank, the adverbs softly and silently, and the personal pronouns he, his, and someone to create an image of the snake having an equal manner and conduct with that of a human being. I would like to explain briefly on his use of pronouns. The personal pronouns are used either for humans or for pets. Snakes are not humans, of course; and in the poem, the snake is not the persona’s pet—it is a stranger. Lawrence, however, still used the personal pronouns he, his, and someone all referring to the snake. Purposely, the persona in the poem described the snake by giving it human attributes to act (through verbs), behave (through adverb), and appear (through pronouns) in order that it would become worthy of admiration and honor “to be crowned” like “a king.”

2. Suppose you wanted to describe a human being as if he or she were a snake. Which characteristics of a snake would you use to do this? Think about shape; think about the way snakes moves; think about eyes, tongue, and body temperature; think about the sound that snakes make with their mouths.

I had a girlfriend whom I cannot really forget. I can best describe her as a snake. I first saw her at Jollibee Tibanga with her friends. I can’t forget the way she walks with her voluptuous body. As she turned her head, I glanced at her wild eyes. Later, I learned that she’s a friend of my best friend. To make the story short, we then got to know each other until we went out to see each other thrice a week. Whenever we went out together, she would always wear a silky dress, shiny and dazzling. Her curvaceous body in her silky dress perfectly paints a snake-picture. But like a snake, she got a poison. Because she’s totally attractive, a lot of guys would flirt with her yet she seemed to welcome them. Like me, after a conversation with her, they couldn’t get enough. She somehow had venom: once one has got it, he’s become the prey. I’ve never held a snake, but I think she’s as hot as it (hot to devour her prey). As a snake, she also had a two-forked tongue—she told me one story but a different one to her and my friends. How can I forget that tempting snake?

3. Once again, we find Lawrence using and, and as, and so, but and for to begin lines of poetry. Remove these connectors. (Sometimes you will have to replace them with a pronoun to make sense.) What happens to the rhythm and movement of the poem when you remove these words? Do the connectors give meaning or style to Lawrence’s poem?

Lawrence’s use of the connectors is with purpose. It gives meaning to the poem. After reading the poem for a couple of times, I notice that the poem follows an “action-reaction” pattern: The snake does something (action) and then the persona reacts to it (reaction). It is then the function of these connectors to relate the lines to the next. In other words, the connectors help in relating and linking the “actions” of the snake to the “reactions” of the persona. Had the connectors been removed, there might not be any changes on the rhythm and meter nor on the rhyme scheme (which the poem does not consistently observe; or which are not really present in the poem) but the pattern “action-reaction” or the logical pattern (cause and effect) would have been broken.
Aside from following the “action-reaction” pattern, the connectors function as a necessary element in narrating. The poem has a narrative element—the persona telling the readers his encounter with the snakes and his remorse for throwing the log at it. Because the poem has a narrative element, it is proper for the persona to use some techniques in recounting experiences: the use of connectors. Using connectors is a reader-friendly style; it is effective to properly guide and lead the readers as they experience and interact with the text to achieve meaning.

4. How does Lawrence describe “may snake” to make it seem beautiful? How does Lawrence describe his own meanness?

In the poem, Lawrence brings most of the readers, if not all, to a different perspective on the snake. Normally, if one reads about a snake, he is terrified. Lawrence, however, makes the readers see the snake differently. That is, the snake, although it looks scary, is not harmful; in fact, it is like a person from the noble class worthy of honor. Someone who visits the trough, a drinking cattle, an honored guest, a marvelous god, and a majestic king—these are the simile and metaphor used by Lawrence to create the impression on the readers that snakes are not fearsome.
The persona blames his education for making him done a remorseful act. This is very significant. Education is supposed to teach people to love, respect and appreciate nature. But his education is the very one which tells him “to finish him [snake] off.” Many times in the poem, his education bugs him to kill the snake. Education tells him that the snake is venomous or poisonous (dangerous) because it’s color is “gold.” After reading this, is can be expected that the snake would harm the speaker. Yet he is not harmed. With this, many may doubt the teachings and lessons education have offered us.
Another opposition that I notice is the behavior. The speaker, as a human being, is civilized; the snake, as an animal, is wild. However, the snake in the poem does not intervene the human world, it simply drinks water from the trough; it is the speaker (human) who intervenes the snake (an animal). The speaker is expected to respect the snake and the snake is anticipated to harm the speaker. This is not the case—the speaker throws a log at the snake which does not hurt the speaker. Human beings are so proud about civilization but after reading the poem, one cannot help but ask this question: So who is civilized?
Therefore, Lawrence describes the “may snake” by using simile and metaphor, and he describes his own meanness (education and civilization) by using irony and paradox.