In recent class discussions, we have addressed various literary tools. Some of the tools we discussed that I picked up on in the poem “Snake”, by D.H. Lawrence, were sound effects, and figure of speech. The sound effects included both repetition, and alliteration, and the main figure of speech that I picked up on was personification. There was also a great deal of irony in the poem, and underlying references to Culture and Society.
Repetition and Alliteration are tools that are used in literature in order to draw the reader’s attention. I noticed alliteration in line four: “In the deep, strange-scented shade…” (Lawrence 827). The definition of Alliteration is, “Words that have the same initial sound several times in a row”. In line four, the words strange, scented, and shade, all start with the same consonant “s” sound, therefore, drawing attention to this particular line.
The element of Repetition was referenced in various lines throughout the poem as well, for instance, in the second line, he referred to the weather: “On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat” (Lawrence 827). The speaker referenced heat three times in a single line. This drew a lot of attention to the fact that it was, indeed, hot; which made sense out of the fact that the snake was drinking from his water-trough. Another case that Repetition was infused into Lawrence’s writing was in line 47: “And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice adream”, and again in lines six, and seven, where he stated, “(I) must wait, must stand and wait, for there he was at the trough before me” (Lawrence 828). The way that Repetition was consistently used proved to be an adequate attention-getter for me, the reader, and, so, served its purpose.
This same line (“…must wait, must stand and wait, for he was at the trough before me”) not only applied the tool of Repetition, but also introduced a new tool: Personification. Personification is defined as giving human qualities to something that is not human. In the line I mentioned before, the focus should be on the word “he”. We can make and educated guess that the speaker did not actually know the specific gender of the snake, therefore, we can gather that referring to the snake in terms of “he”, “his”, and “him” throughout the poem served the purpose of “personifying” the snake, or making the snake appear to be more like a human friend, rather than an animalistic foe.
The irony in this poem revealed itself to me when the speaker threw a log at the snake. “I looked around, I put down my pitcher, I picked up a clumsy log, and threw it at the water-trough…” (Lawrence 829). Why would the speaker, after admiring the snake for the entire duration of the poem, up to this point, (i.e. “…I must confess how I liked him, How glad I was he had come like a guest…to drink at my water-trough” [Lawrence 828]) decide to throw a log at the creature? The answer to this irony, in my opinion, can be found in the underlying themes of culture, and society.
Americans, for the most part, are cultured to believe that snakes have an evil connotation about them, and that we should either avoid them, or kill them, if we have the means. “The voice of my education said to me, He must be killed” (Lawrence 828). In the poem, the speaker was going against a cultural norm when he found he was, not cringing at the snake, but rather, admiring it. “For he seemed to me again like a king” (Lawrence 829). Culture upbringing is a strong part of every individual human being. Thus, the speaker wrote of the voices in his head, which represent cultural society, telling him to kill the snake. It was because of these societal pressures that the speaker threw the log at the snake. However, he instantly regretted his decision: “I have something to expiate; a pettiness” (Lawrence 829). The fact that he regretted his actions places a challenge on people to think about our cultural norms and, perhaps, re-evaluate some of them. Should we go through with an act that we think is wrong, or destroy something we think is beautiful, merely to appease society?
