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Question
After reading the poem, complete the following. What happens? There are three main parts of the poem. Do you know what they are about? The first one is done for you.
| Lines | What is happening? |
| 1-7 | The scorpion comes into the home to escape the rain and stings the poet’s mother. |
| 8-33 | |
| 34-48 |
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Solution
| Lines |
What is happening? |
|
1-7 |
1) The scorpion comes into the home to escape the rain and stings the poet's mother. |
|
8-33 |
2) The villagers sympathize with the mother and offer consolation in various ways. They sit around the floor with the mother in the centre. More neighbours came in to help, with more candles and more lanterns. |
|
34-48 |
3) What is happening The father is desperate and though he is a rationalist, he tries all sorts of things to cure the mother. He calls a holy man to perform rites and even sets fire to the bitten toe. After twenty hours the scorpion loses Its sting. All that the mother says is that she is thankful to God that the scorpion picked her and spared her children. |
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RELATED QUESTIONS
Read the following extract and do the activities.
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.
Patting with his poison – flash
Of diabolic tail in the dark room -
he risked the rain again.
The peasants came like swarms of flies
And buzzed the name of God a hundred times
to paralyse 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.
(A1) Choose the correct option for the following.
(1) The incident in the poem took place in
(i) the morning (ii) the night
(iii) the afternoon (iv) the evening
(2) ‘The Evil’ mentioned in the poem was
(i) the peasant (ii) the God
(iii) the scorpion (iv) the mother
(3) The scorpion crawled beneath a sack of
(i) sugar (ii) a wheat
(iii) corns (iv) rice
(4) The peasants are compared with
(i) flock of sheep (ii) group of monkeys
(iii) swarms of flies (iv) herds of cattle
(A2) Write the reactions of the people when they knew that the mother was stung by a scorpion.
(i)..................................................................
(ii)................................................................
(iii)...............................................................
(iv)...............................................................
(A3) Write down the rhyming words from the stanzas for the following.
(i) fight - (ii) clash -
Read the following poem and write an appreciation of it with the help of the given points in paragraph format.
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
you can use the following points while appreciating the given poem:
i. Title
ii. Poet
iii. Theme/Central idea
iv.Rhyme scheme
v. Figures of speech
vi. Special features (type the poem, imagery, implied meaning if any,etc.)
vii. Favorite lines
viii. Why I like/don’t like the poem.
Complete the following table.
| Background/setting of the poem | |
| Type |
Evidence (Quote lines from the poem |
| Rural/Urban | ______________________ |
Choose the correct alternative.
The child is afraid but admires ____________.
Choose the correct alternative.
This is a _____________ poem as it tells a story.
Choose the correct alternative.
‘The scorpion picked on me. And spared my children’ depicts ____________.
Choose the correct alternative.
The poem is titled ‘Night of the Scorpion’, for, the major part of the poem _______________.
Choose the correct alternative.
The peasants chant the name of God to _______________.
Prepare a Presentation (on paper or on a PC) as a piece of reference to other students. Make use of the following points.
Read the following poem and write an appreciation of it with the help of the given points in a paragraph format:
|
Night of the Scorpion I remember the night my mother |
Points:
- The title and the poet of the poem
- Rhyme scheme
- Figures of speech
- Central Idea/Theme
