The Snake Trying
By W.W.E. Ross

About the Poet

Image: Bleacherreport.com

William Wrightson Eustace (W.W.E.) Ross was born on June 14, 1894 in Peterborough, Ontario. He grew up in Pembroke, Ontario. He studied geophysics at the University of Toronto and earned his degree in geophysics in 1914.

Ross began writing poetry in or around 1923. His earliest works “are written in free verse and reflect a knowledge of both imagism and Japanese poetry. Ross’s passion for the natural world is evident in his poetry through its focus on Canada’s physical environment. He published only two collections during his lifetime: Laconics (1930) and Sonnets (1932). In the 1930s Ross developed an interest in spirituality, which shows itself in his work. Ross died of cancer in 1966.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

Poem: The snake trying

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.

W.W.E. Ross

Introduction

The poem is based on the theme of prevention of cruelty towards animals. The poet requests the people to maintain ecological balance and not to harm any species. Most of us think that snakes are very dangerous so we kill them to avoid being bitten but the poet reveals that all snakes are not poisonous. They are harmless and attack human beings only in self-defence. In his view snakes are not harmful if they are not disturbed. They harm human beings only when they think him a danger for their own life. In this poem, the snake itself becomes a victim of human hardness.

This poem is written in free verse with lines unequal in length and no metre, there is no rhyme scheme in the poem.

Summary

One day a snake was lying on the sandy bank of a pond or a river. Someone observes it and runs after it with a stick. He wants to kill it. The snake is trying to escape from the pursuing stick. It runs with sudden curves in its body. It looks very beautiful and graceful. It glides through the water to save itself from the stroke. The poet sees all this. He asks the chaser to let the snake go away without any hurt. He says that it is a small green snake. It can’t make harm even to a small child. But the chaser does not listen to the poet. He is after the snake but it disappears in the ripples among the green slim reeds.

Explanation

The snake is trying to escape the man with a stick. It runs with some unique curves which make some beautiful and graceful shapes. It tries to escape from the stroke.

The poet pleads with the man to let the snake goes over the water into the reeds to hide without getting hurt. The snake is not willing to hurt anyone. Although it looks small and green, it is harmless even to children.

The poet further adds that the snake likes to lie on the sand until it is noticed and chased away by some people. Finally, it vanishes away in the ripples of green reeds. Thus, the snake tries to save itself from the man.

Textual Questions

Q1. What is the snake trying to escape from?

Ans. The snake is trying to escape an assault on him. He is being chased by a man with a stick in his hand. The snake fears that the man wants to kill him by hitting him with the stick. The snake intends to evade being struck by the stick.

Q2. Is it a harmful snake? What is its colour?

Ans. The snake is green in colour and small in size. It is absolutely harmless as it is non-poisonous. It is harmless even to the children and hence need not be feared or killed.

Q3. The poet finds the snake beautiful. Find the words he uses to convey its beauty.

Ans. The poet uses the words ‘beautiful and graceful’ to describe the shapes of the snake’s body. He uses the words ‘small and green’ to describe the snake’s size and colour respectively. All these words connote admiration.

Q4. What does the poet wish for the snake?

Ans. The poet wishes a safe and free life for the snake. He does not want any human being to feel threatened by the snake and wants him to be left alone. He desires a peaceful coexistence for the snake and human beings.

Q5. Where was the snake before anyone saw it and chased it away? Where does the snake disappear?

Ans. Before being seen by anyone, the snake was lying comfortably on the sandy banks of the pond. After getting noticed and chased, he moved swiftly to the pond, got in the water and reached the other side to disappear in the slim and green reeds growing over there.

Additional short Answer Questions

Q1. Which literary device is used in the following lines?

The snake trying
to escape the pursuing stick,

Ans. Transferred Epithet

A transferred epithet is an adjective that grammatically qualifies a noun other than the person or thing it is actually describing.

Here, the adjective ‘pursuing’ is used with ‘stick’. But it is not intended to show that the stick is pursuing. Actually, it is to suggest that some person with a stick in his hands is chasing the snake. Hence, the epithet (adjective) is transferred from the person to the stick.

Q2. Why does the snake suddenly curve his body?

Ans. The snake, lying comfortably on the sands on the bank of a pond, suddenly notices a person trying to kill him with a stick. So he twists and wriggles his body to avoid being struck by the stick.

Q3. How does the snake look when he curves his slender body?

Ans. While curving his slender body with quick movements to avoid being attacked, the snake looks quite fascinating and elegant to the poet.

Q4. Where does the snake start moving to avoid being killed?

Ans. The snake starts moving towards the pond to avoid being killed. He glides on the surface of the pond’s water to reach the bank on the other side which has slim and green reeds like the snake’s body. Here he can easily camouflage himself and avoid being detected and killed.

Q5. What is the poet’s request to the person chasing the snake?

Ans. The poet’s request to the person chasing the snake with a stick is to let the snake go free to lead his life. He wants the person to let the snake slither away through the water to the reeds where he may hide himself to safety.

Q6. Why does the poet want the snake to be spared?

Ans. The poet wants the snake to be spared because it is non-venomous and hence harmless. He is so safe that it cannot harm even a young child. Since the snake is not a threat to any human being, there is no rhyme or reason in killing him.

Q7. Where did the snake hide and how?

Ans. The snake hid among the green reeds growing on the other side of the pond. He did this by merging his slender and green body with the slim and green reeds. This camouflage helped him deceive the person who was trying to kill him.

Q8. Why does the poet think that it is foolishness to kill the snake?

Ans. When we see the snake, we try our utmost to kill it. It is our foolishness. We know that snakes are poisonous but it will do no harm to us unless it sees any danger from us. Snakes always bite in self-protection otherwise they are harmless to even children. However, human beings often try to kill them.

Q9. What is the moral of The poem “The Snake Trying”?

Ans. The poem inspires the readers to cultivate a sympathetic and loving attitude towards all living creatures. The poet shows how there is beauty in all creations of God, even in the curling and curving body of the snake. He wants this beauty to be preserved. The poet’s plea to the man chasing the snake is, in fact, his request to all to preserve the diversity of nature.

The poem inspires in the readers a sense of justice by stressing that killing an innocent snake without any provocation is unfair. Animals may be killed only for self-defence, else they must be saved. The poem further motivates the readers to attain deep knowledge about the phenomenon of nature. By gaining a thorough knowledge, one may be able to distinguish between the harmful and the harmless animals. Thus, the poem motivates people to adopt humanistic and friendly feelings towards all living creatures.

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