Question

Prepare a Presentation (on paper or on a PC) as a piece of reference to other students. Make use of the following points.

Answer 1

(1) Title: Night of the Scorpion
(2) Introduction of the poet: Nissim Ezekiel (1924-2004) was an Indian Jewish poet, actor, playwright, editor, and art critic. He was a foundational figure in postcolonial India’s literary history, specifically for Indian writings of a wider range.
     The poem depicts the selfless love of a mother, who is stung by a scorpion.
(3) The complete poem:

Night of the Scorpion
 I remember the night my mother
was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours
of steady rain had driven him
to crawl beneath a sack of rice.

 Parting with his poison – flash
of diabolic tail in the darkroom –
 he risked the rain again

The peasants came like swarms of flies
and buzzed the name of God a hundred times
to paralyze the Evil One.

With candles and with lanterns
 throwing giant scorpion shadows
 on the mud-baked walls
 they searched for him: he was not found.
 They clicked their tongues.
 With every movement that the scorpion made his poison moved in Mother’s blood, they said.
 May he sit still, they said
 May the sins of your previous birth be burned away tonight, they said.
 May your suffering decrease the misfortunes of your next birth, they said.
 May the sum of all evil balanced in this unreal world against the sum of good become diminished by your pain.
 May the poison purify your flesh of desire, and your spirit of ambition,
 they said, and they sat around on the floor with my mother in the center,
 the peace of understanding on each face. 

More candles, more lanterns, more neighbors,
 more insects, and the endless rain.
 My mother twisted through and through,
 groaning on a mat.
 My father, sceptic, rationalist,
 trying every curse and blessing,
 powder, mixture, herb, and hybrid
 He even poured a little paraffin
upon the bitten toe and put a match to it. 
 I watched the flame feeding on my mother.
 I watched the holy man perform his rites to tame the poison with an incantation.
 After twenty hours it lost its sting.

 My mother only said
 Thank God the scorpion picked on me
 And spared my children.
-Nissim Ezekiel

(4) Learning objectives: My mother only said
 Thank God the scorpion picked on me
 And spared my children.
I watched the flame feeding on my mother.
 I watched the holy man perform his rites to tame the poison with an incantation.
(5) Style of writing (This is a narrative poem in the first person, lines of irregular length, free verse-absence of rhyme and meter, enjambement Style is free and colloquial. There is repeated use of indirect speech, Imagery, use of similes, metaphors, alliteration, repetition, and onomatopoeia.) 
(6) Scorpion lines 

I remember the night my mother was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours of steady rain had driven him to crawl beneath a sack of rice. Parting with his poison - a flash of diabolic tail in the darkroom -
he risked the rain again.

(7) The peasants: The peasants came like swarms of flies
and buzzed the name of God a hundred times
to paralyze the Evil One.
(8) The poet's father (sceptic, rationalist. anxious, worried)
(9) The poet's mother (brave, patient, selfless, loving, understanding)
(10) Vocabulary: The poem is simple, easy-to-understand. The poem is enriched using various figures of speech such as Alliteration, Antithesis, Hyperbole, Inversion, Metaphor, Onomatopoeia, Oxymoron, Repetition,  Simile, and transferred Epithet. An example of personification from the poem is " I watched the flame feeding on my mother " as the flame is given the human quality of 'feeding'. 
(11) Credits: The ironic twist in the poem comes when in the end the mother who suffered in silence opens her mouth. she say's 'Thank God the scorpion picked on me and spared my children." yes,  I like this poem because of this poem mention the bond between the mother and son.