Night of the Scorpion
by
Nissim Ezekiel
(Poem & Summary)
The poem
‘Night of the Scorpion’ presents a family and social atmosphere and also the
rural superstitions. The poem sets a ‘tender family situation’ through the
poet’s mother, who is stung by a scorpion and the situation is given multiple
treatment and maternal affection.
Night of the Scorpion
I
remember the night my mother
was
stung by a scorpion. Ten hours
of
steady rain had driven him
to
crawl beneath a sack of rice.
Parting
with his poison - flash
of
diabolic tail in the dark room -
he
risked the rain again.
The
peasants came like swarms of flies
and
buzzed the name of God a hundred times
to
paralyse the Evil One.
With
candles and with lanterns
throwing
giant scorpion shadows
on
the mud-baked walls
they
searched for him: he was not found.
They
clicked their tongues.
With
every movement that the scorpion made his poison moved in Mother's blood, they
said.
May
he sit still, they said
May
the sins of your previous birth
be
burned away tonight, they said.
May
your suffering decrease
the
misfortunes of your next birth, they said.
May
the sum of all evil
balanced
in this unreal world
against
the sum of good
become
diminished by your pain.
May
the poison purify your flesh
of
desire, and your spirit of ambition,
they
said, and they sat around
on
the floor with my mother in the centre,
the
peace of understanding on each face.
More
candles, more lanterns, more neighbours,
more
insects, and the endless rain.
My
mother twisted through and through,
groaning
on a mat.
My
father, sceptic, rationalist,
trying
every curse and blessing,
powder,
mixture, herb and hybrid.
He
even poured a little paraffin
upon
the bitten toe and put a match to it.
I
watched the flame feeding on my mother.
I
watched the holy man perform his rites to tame the poison with an incantation.
After
twenty hours
it
lost its sting.
My
mother only said
Thank
God the scorpion picked on me
And
spared my children.
‘Night
of the Scorpion’, in the Indian rural background, narrates an incident in which
the poet tells, what an Indian mother feels when she faces a miserable
situation. The poet says that a scorpion, in a rainy night enters into their
house and stings his mother on her toe. The scorpion, after stinging his
mother, slips away into the dark room. The simple and affectionate villagers
come from the neighboring houses and try every-thing they know, but nothing
gives relief to his mother. When all their practices fail, his father tries his
medicines like curse, blessings, powder, mixture, herb and also the paraffin,
but of no use. It is only after 20 hours that the pain subsides and his mother
feels comfort.
When
the mother feels comfort, she heaves a sigh of relief and thanked God that the
scorpion had stung her and not to her children. This is a natural reaction of
an Indian mother.
The
poet has not divided his poem, ‘Night of the Scorpion’ into stanzas except the
last three lines, which have been written separately as the climax of the poem.
He has not followed any rhyming scheme also. ‘Flash of diabolic tail’ and ‘the
dark room’ suggest ‘evil’. Figures of speech, like ‘swarms of flies’ etc. imparts
a beauty to the poem. The poem illustrates the truth of the proverb – “God
could not be everywhere so he created the mother”.
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