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Question
Based on your reading of the poem, answer the following question by ticking the correct option:
- 'Sicilian July', 'Etna smoking' and 'burning bowels of the earth' are images that convey
that
Options
there are snakes in volcanic areas
the poet lives in a hot area
it is a really hot day when the snake comes
Sicilian snakes are dangerous
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Solution
it was a really hot day when the snake came
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RELATED QUESTIONS
What does the poet compare the snake's drinking habits to? Why?
What is the poet’s dual attitude towards the snake?
What is the dilemma that the poet faces when he sees the snake?
What were the conflicting thoughts in the poet's mind on seeing the snake?
What were the poet's thoughts after the snake had gone?
Snakes generate both horror and fascination. Do you agree? Why/Why not?
Read what W.W.E. Ross feels when he sees a snake and fill in the table given
below:
The snake trying to escape the
pursuing stick, with sudden curvings
of thin long body. How beautiful and
graceful are his shapes !
He glides through the water away
from the stroke. O let him go over the
water into the reeds to hide without
hurt. Small and green he is harmless
even to children Along the sand
he lay until observed
and chased away, and now
he vanishes in the ripples
among the green slim reeds.
| What is the snake doing? | Words to describe the snake | The Poet's plea |
Based on your reading of the poem, answer the following question by ticking the correct option:
- 'he lifted his head from his drinking as cattle do' - The poet wants to convey that the snake
Answer the following question briefly:
In stanza 2 and 3, the poet gives a vivid description of the snake by using suggestive expressions. What picture of the snake do you form on the basis of this description?
Answer the following question briefly:
The poet has a dual attitude towards the snake. Why does he experience conflicting emotions on seeing the snake?
Answer the following question briefly:
What is the difference between the snake's movement at the beginning of the poem and later when the poet strikes it with a log of wood? You may use relevant vocabulary from the poem to highlight the difference.
Answer the following question briefly:
The poet experiences feelings of self-derision, guilt and regret after hitting the snake. Pick out expressions that suggest this. Why does he feel like this?
Answer the following question briefly:
You have already read Coleridge's poem The Ancient Mariner in which an albatross is killed by the mariner. Why does the poet make an allusion to the albatross?
Answer the following question:
In the poem "Snake", why does the poet say "I have something to expatiate."?
Read the given excerpt and answer the questions briefly.
| But must I confess how I liked him, How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet, to drink at my water-trough And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless, Into the burning bowels of this earth? |
- What can be inferred about the speaker's attitude towards nature based on the excerpt? (1)
- List the meaning of the phrase "burning bowels of this earth”. (1)
- How is the snake's arrival and departure symbolic? (1)
- The speaker compares the snake to the guest. Which word in the extract displays the snake’s non-guest like behaviour? (1)
