Poem 9 - The Snake Trying

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Summary: 

The Snake Trying is the 9th poem in Beehive – the prescribed NCERT book for CBSE Class 9 students. It is written by the poet W.W.E. Ross and has a free-verse structure. In this poem, a harmless snake tries to escape from getting beaten by a stick. Contrary to the widespread human belief that all snakes are poisonous, the poet wants to tell the scared person that not all snakes are harmful. However, human beings try to kill snakes as soon as they spot one. The poet wants the reader to realise that like other animals, all the harmless green-coloured snake wants is to survive, and hence it is hiding behind the green bushes.

Poetic Analysis: 

The poem is written in Free Verse and has no fixed Rhyming Scheme. It has an instance of a Transferred Epithet – the “Pursuing Stick” is used to signify the person holding the stick and not the stick itself. There is also an Alliteration – the repetition of a consonant sound in 2 or more consecutive words. The instance is in the case of the line – “He is harmless”- the consonant sound is ‘h’. The poet uses the literary device of personification – he treats the snake as a normal person.

Synopsis: 

The snake tries to escape the person chasing it down with a stick. The person is trying to beat it, and as the snake crawls, its body twists and turns into beautiful shapes. It glides over the water as it tries to escape. The poet pleads to let it go through the water and hide beneath the reeds. Reeds are marsh plants with thick stems. The snake is described to be small, green and completely harmless. It was reportedly lying in the sands where it was found and chased away. As a person was chasing it with a stick in his/her hand, it glides through the water and hides in the camouflage of the green reeds.