"Night of the Scorpion" is a poem by Nissim Ezekiel

Nissim Ezekiel

' was an Indian Jewish poet, playwright, editor and art-critic. He was a foundational figure in postcolonial India's literary history, specifically for Indian writing in English....

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It tells the story of a boy whose mother was stung by a scorpion

Scorpion

Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...

, which had retreated underneath a sack of rice. The poem describes the attempts by the boy's father, the local peasants and the holy man

Holy man

Holy man can refer to:*a person, usually an ascetic, who is exceptionally pious or religious .*"Holy Man", an instrumental by Dennis Wilson, recorded during the Pacific Ocean Blue sessions that was abandoned before a vocal track was recorded...

 to cure her, far away from Western medicine. The conflict between the peasants "buzzing the name of God" and the father, "sceptic, rationalist, trying every curse and blessing" because he is willing to try anything to save his wife, is the centre of the poem. At the end, the poison's effect subsides by itself "After twenty hours it lost its sting". His mother then thanked God that the scorpion had spared her children and had stung her instead.
(Although some people do say that his mother died and at that point she was on God's 'right hand side' and was looking down at her children).

The poem has been included in Different Cultures of the AQA Anthology

AQA Anthology

The AQA Anthology is a collection of poems and short texts which are studied in English schools for GCSE English and English Literature, produced by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance...

 for study at GCSE in the section Poems from other Cultures. It has also been added to the syllabus for Class 10 in the CBSE and class 9 and 10 in the ICSE curriculum in India.

Structure

The poem is written in free verse with varying line lengths and no rhyme. The first part is long and full of activity - the scorpion's bite and the reaction of the villagers. The second part - the mother's reaction - is just three lines long. It was written in his early age and is hence like a child reading out a diary note.

Summary

"Night of the scorpion" is a poem that can be understood at two levels. At one level, the poet describes how, on a rainy day the narrator's mother is bitten by a scorpion and what are the chain reactions to it. At another level, it depicts the Indian ethos, superstitions and cultured richness through a simple incident and epitomizes the typical Indian motherhood which depicts sacrifice and affection.

The narrator remembers the night when the scorpion had bitten his mother. The heavy rain had driven the scorpion to crawl under a sack of rice and unexpectedly had bitten his mother's toe; flashing its devilish tail and parting with its poison.

The peasants or villagers came into their hut "like swarms of flies" to sympathize with the family. The neighbours buzzed the name of god hoping to paralyse the scorpion as they believed that if the scorpion moved the poison would spread. They searched for the scorpion with candles and lanterns. They clicked their tongues that the mother's sufferings may decrease "the misfortunes of her next birth". They also prayed that the sum of evil may be balanced in this unreal world against the sum of good that she had done. They prayed that the poison would purify her of her desires and ambitions.

All the people sat around, the mother in the centre, while she continued to groan and twist with pain, on the mat.

The narrator's father who was normally a rationalist and a practical man, also gave in to the superstitious beliefs of the villages and joined them in their cursing and praying then putting a mixture of powders and herbs on her toe, a little paraffin on the bite and lit it with a match - hoping to burn the poison away. The narrator saw his mother's toe on fire and must have felt afraid. A holy man, the priest, performed some rites to probably tame the poison. Only after twenty (20) hours did the poison subside the mother was relieved of the pain, and thanked god that the scorpion bit her and spared her children.

The poem thus brings out the mother's love and sacrificial thoughts - the maternal instinct, as well as beautifully describes the superstitions and ignorant practices followed by the villagers. The title of the poem thus is very deceptive, as it does not focus on the scorpion at all.

Imagery

Poet communicates an experience. The poet's communication is received by our senses. The senses consist of seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling and touching. The poet has to create an image to stimulate any of these senses. This is called imagery. It can be defined as the representation of an experience through language.

Though visual imagery is most often used in poetry, an image may also represent a sound, a smell, a touch or a feeling or sensation. In this poem, the poet has made use of various types of imagery:

Smell imagery

• smell of candles
• smell of burning oil in the lanterns as well as the burning of flesh; "flame feeding on my mother"

Tactile experience

• scorpion biting the mother
• father pouring paraffin on the toe.

Internal sensation

• fear
• pain
• anxiety
• concern
• relief (in the end)

Sound imagery

• buzzed the name of god a hundred times
• they clicked their tongues

Other figures of speech

Personification

• "diabolic tail"(tail has been described as diabolic)

Simile

• "The peasants came like swarms of flies"(peasants have been compared to swarm of flies)

External links

• The poem on BBC Bitesize