Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE SNAKES, by EUGENE FIELD Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: These are the snakes that rowdy saw Last Line: But he thinks of the snakes, andhe lets it go by. Subject(s): Animals; Drinks & Drinking; Hallucinations & Illusions; Snakes; Wine; Serpents; Vipers | ||||||||
These are the snakes that Rowdy saw: Some were green and some were white, Some were black as the spawn of night; Some were yellow; And one big fellow Had monstrous blotches of angry red, And a scarlet welt on his slimy head; And other snakes that Rowdy saw Were of every hue From pink to blue, And the longer he looked the bigger they grew! An old he-snake with a frowzy head Was one of the snakes that Rowdy saw. This old he-snake he grinned and leered When he saw that Rowdy was afeard; And he ran out his tongue in frightful wise As he batted his fireless dead-fish eyes; And he lashed his tail In the moonlight pale, And he tickled his jaw with his left hind paw Did this old he-snake that Rowdy saw! These hideous snakes that Rowdy saw Wriggled and twisted Wherever they listed, Straightway glided Or ambled one-sided. There were some of those things That had fiery wings Yes, some of the snakes that Rowdy saw Hummed round in the air With their eyeballs aglare And their whiskers aflare; And they hissed their approval of Rowdy's despair! And some of the snakes that Rowdy saw Had talons like bats, And looked like a cross between buzzards and rats! They crawled from his boots, and they sprawled on the floor; They sat on the mantel, and perched on the door, And grinned all the fiercer the louder he swore! Out, out of his boots Came the damnable brutes These murdersome snakes that Rowdy saw! Strange cries they uttered, And poison they sputtered As they crawled or they fluttered. This way and that Their venom they spat, Till Rowdy had doubts as to where he was at. They twined round his legs, and encircled his waist; His arms and his neck and his breast they embraced; They hissed in his ears, and they spat in his eyes, And with their foul breaths interrupted his cries. Blue serpents and green, Red, yellow, and black Of as hideous mien As ever was seen, Girt him round, fore and back, And higgling And wriggling, With their slimy and grimy preponderance they bore Rowdy down to the floor. He remembers no more. The sequel is this: The snakes that he saw Were such hideous snakes, were such torture-some things, With their poison-tipped fangs and their devil-claw wings, That he speaks of them now with a meaningful awe; And when in the bar-room the bottle goes round, And wassail and laughter and "boodle" abound, Poor Rowdy he turns down his glass with a sigh. "Come, Rowdy, drink hearty!" the aldermen cry. His palate is yearning, his fauces are dry, The bottle appeals to his gullet and eye; But he thinks of the snakes, andhe lets it go by. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE IMAGINED COPPERHEAD by ANDREW HUDGINS TO THE SNAKE by DENISE LEVERTOV FIVE ACCOUNTS OF A MONOGAMOUS MAN by WILLIAM MEREDITH TANKA DIARY (8) by HARRYETTE MULLEN SNAKE WOMAN by MARGARET ATWOOD A PORTRAIT OF MY ROOF by JAMES GALVIN CHILD AND MOTHER by EUGENE FIELD |
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