night of the scorpion essay pdf

The Poems of Nissim Ezekiel

By nissim ezekiel, the poems of nissim ezekiel summary and analysis of "night of the scorpion".

In "Night of the Scorpion," the speaker tells a story from his childhood in which his mother was bitten by a scorpion. The poem begins with a simple declaration: "I remember the night my mother / was stung by a scorpion" (1-2). The scorpion had entered the speaker's home because it wanted to hide from the rain. When it bit the speaker's mother, it was hiding beneath a sack of rice.

The speaker describes the incident in which the scorpion stings his mother without mentioning his mother at all. Instead, he focuses on the scorpion and what he did immediately afterward: "Parting with his poison—flash / of diabolic tail in the dark room— / he risked the rain again" (5-7). Rather than stick around and look at the scene he had caused, the scorpion ran back outdoors.

After the speaker's mother was bitten, the speaker notes that poor people went to his mother's side "like swarms of flies," buzzing with Christianity and hoping to kill one of their visions of Satan (8). The peasants look for the scorpion on their hands and knees with lanterns. Their wish is to find the scorpion quickly because they believe that every movement the scorpion makes without getting killed affects the speaker's mother: "With every movement that the scorpion made his poison moved in Mother's / blood, they said" (16-18).

The peasants begin to share good wishes for the speaker's mother, hoping that the scorpion will die that night, or at least sit still, that the sins of her past life will be burned away, and that she may return to an even better life in her next life because of her suffering.

The peasants continue making wishes for the speaker's mother, wishing that the forces of evil might be diminished by the speaker's mother's pain. They sat on the floor around the speaker's mother, hoping that the scorpion's bite would "purify" her, with "the peace of understanding on each face" (29).

As more people come to visit the speaker's mother, the speaker takes in his surroundings: "More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours, / more insects, and the endless rain" (30-31). The speaker's mother, oblivious to it all, spent this time suffering and twisting on a mat.

The speaker turns his attention to his father, who he describes as a "sceptic" and "rationalist" (34). The speaker notes that even his father is making an effort to help his mother in any way that he knows how, which means turning towards that which he wouldn't otherwise believe: "trying every curse and blessing, / powder, mixture, herb and hybrid" (35-36). The speaker's father even lit the bite on fire in an attempt to remove the poison.

The speaker's mother suffered for 20 hours. Her only response at the end of it all was her gratitude that it didn't happen to anyone else in their family: "My mother only said / Thank God the scorpion picked on me / And spared my children" (43-5).

"Night of the Scorpion," which was published as a part of The Exact Name, demonstrates a new and emerging aesthetic in Ezekiel's poetry. Whereas his early poems conformed to a strict meter and rhyme, later poems like "Night of the Scorpion" adopts a natural, colloquial meter and tone. This poem was published in a time when Ezekiel was making a deliberate attempt at formal innovation by using a loose, seemingly free-verse structure for his narrative poems. Additionally, Ezekiel stopped putting capitals at the beginning of each line, which allows his later poems to flow much more easily on the page.

The fact that Ezekiel distances himself from formal poetic conventions does not imply a lack of care when it comes to the form of "Night of the Scorpion." In fact, Ezekiel makes deliberate choices about line breaks, enjambment, voice, chronology, and tone in this poem which gives it the effect on the reader that made it so famous to begin with. There is only one line break in this poem, which occurs right after the speaker's mother is released from her suffering:

"After twenty hours

it lost its sting.

My mother only said

thank God the scorpion picked on me

and spared my children" (44-48).

This line break is a literal break in the tension of the poem and endows the conclusion with a quiet depth. The tension in the poem before the line break comes from two sources: first, that the speaker's mother is suffering with little prospect of relief, and second, the tension that the speaker holds between personal crisis and mocking social observation.

While the personal crisis is clearly on the surface of the poem, the mocking social commentary is evident through the speaker's tone. The speaker in the poem, who inhabits a perspective between the little boy watching his mother suffer and the older man looking back upon that memory, relays the events of the crisis in a calm and detached manner. The casualness with which the speaker relays this scene is incongruous and even alarming for the reader. Even so, the speaker moves slowly through the events of the poem in one long stanza without breaks—unhurried and, it seems, unbothered. This emotional detachment lets the poem speak directly to the reader, who understands right away what Ezekiel means without having to juggle emotional pain over the suffering mother.

When the speaker addresses the peasants, we find a tone that we often see in the Collected Works —Ezekiel's sardonic and mocking gaze, which is the gaze of an insider that is nonetheless distanced from his subject. In this poem, Ezekiel's irony dramatizes the peasant's, as well as the speaker's father's, superstition in their desperate attempts to save the speaker's mother. The speaker does not see the peasants in a positive light and instead compares them to "swarms of flies" in their desperation to help his mother (8). Their mixture of Christianity and Hinduism allows for slight confusion, as they pray to God for the mother's wellbeing yet also hope for the best in her reincarnations. The speaker highlights how futile their spiritual efforts were in helping his mother: "My mother twisted through and through / groaning on a mat" (32-33). While this perspective does reflect a slight elitism—the speaker is looking down on the peasants for believing what they believe—it also indicates the religious and cultural diversity that India holds. In this way, "Night of the Scorpion" is a quintessentially Indian poem in that it shows the meeting of worlds through a sense of community ties after a specific disastrous event.

Though "Night of the Scorpion" does not use the strict formal structures that Ezekiel had used in his earlier poetry, this does not mean that the poem is not rhythmic or musical. The punctuation and enjambment of the lines cause the poem to flow in the large first stanza. This helps to build tension and make a large block of text easier and more pleasant to read. For example, the descriptions of the peasants looking for the scorpion contain an easy internal rhythm: "With candles and with lanterns / throwing giant scorpion shadows / on the sun-baked walls / they searched for him: he was not found" (11-14). These lines start out in an even rhythm (with CAN -dles and with LAN -terns), which is broken by the colon, and the depressing revelation that the scorpion was not found. In this way, the careful variation of rhythm throughout "Night of the Scorpion" helps Ezekiel achieve different emotional effects.

Finally, this poem communicates a tension between urban living and the natural world that Ezekiel returns to again and again in this work. The speaker's community, which lives close together and keeps itself informed about its residents, rose up in this work to surround the mother as she burned. The antagonist of the poem is the scorpion, who is forgiven by the speaker very early on since he was indoors simply for survival: "Ten hours / of steady rain had driven him / to crawl beneath a sack of rice" (2-4). In this way, the true force of chaos and evil is the rain, which drove the scorpion indoors and beats down upon the speaker and his family throughout their ordeal: "More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours, / more insects, and the endless rain" (30-31). Like "Monsoon Madness," the natural world is a force of its own in "Night of the Scorpion" and is directly responsible for all of the characters' troubles.

The Poems of Nissim Ezekiel Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Poems of Nissim Ezekiel is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

This poem as mentioned earlier is a satire on indians speaking english. Can you highlight at least five errors in the poem

Can you please include the poem? I don't have access to it.

A poem of dedication

I'm not sure what your question is here.

What picture does the poet picturize in the beginning of the poem, "Poet, Lover and Birdwatcher"?

The speaker gives us the image of stillness, perhaps in nature:

To force the pace and never to be still Is not the way of those who study birds Or women.

Study Guide for The Poems of Nissim Ezekiel

The Poems of Nissim Ezekiel study guide contains a biography of Nissim Ezekiel, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Poems of Nissim Ezekiel
• The Poems of Nissim Ezekiel Summary
• Character List

Essays for The Poems of Nissim Ezekiel

The Poems of Nissim Ezekiel essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Poems of Nissim Ezekiel.

• Striving Forward: Metaphorical Analysis of 'Enterprise' by Nizzim Ezekiel

Wikipedia Entries for The Poems of Nissim Ezekiel

• Introduction

Night of the Scorpion by Nissim Ezekiel

“Night of the Scorpion” is written by Indian-English poet Nissim Ezekiel. The poem was originally published in Ezekiel’s 1965 collection, The Exact Name . This piece is regarded with high acclaim due to its simple diction, and yet its ability to explore complex Indian concepts. It centralizes the subject of a dialectical clash between the colossus presence of the west and its impact on the cultured orient. Also, it brings forth the essence of human nature and presents a real image of rural India in contrast to the urban, the position of women in society, and other important themes relevant to the pre-independence era.

• Read the full poem, “Night of the Scorpion” below:

“Night of the Scorpion” begins with a remembrance of the time the poet’s mother was stung by a scorpion and how the “diabolic” creature created a commotion and fear in his home. The superstitious villagers came to help his mother and were united to sympathize with her pain. They made attempts at finding the “Evil One” in hopes to kill it and ease the pain she was going through. They believed that along with each movement the scorpion made, the poison inside her blood would also move. Ultimately, they did not succeed in their endeavors and could only be there for her with their remedies.

The villagers tried to console her by striking another set of interpretations about how the pain would purge her of her sins from her previous life. The pain would help in making her next birth more fortunate. They said that the scorpion poison would purify her blood and make her free of worldly attachments. The next person who attempted at helping the distressed mother was her husband. He was a modern man with skeptical, as well as, rational opinions. He tried the ways known to him and even tried to burn her pain away with paraffin but with no instant success. The holy man used incantations to stop the poison from moving inside the mother’s blood. After twenty hours of suffering, her pain subsided on its own.

Once the speaker’s mother gained consciousness, she broke the silence with a prayer to God. She was grateful to the almighty for sparing her children from the excruciating sting. It appears as if the scorpion made a deliberate choice to sting the mother, not her children. Nonetheless, she remained unbothered by her suffering. This depicts how much she loved her children.

Structure & Form

Ezekiel’s “Night of the Scorpion” is written in the free-verse form. The poem follows no regular rhyme scheme or meter. It is a narrative poem prominently emphasizing details and discretion of characters. In this poem, Ezekiel breaks away from the conventions and norms of romanticism and uses straightforward modernist expressions. Free-verse was one of the sought-after forms employed by Indian modernist poets. Besides, the text consists of a total of 48 lines of varying lengths packed into a single stanza.

The poem makes use of simple diction and is laced with colloquialism. Ezekiel employs the first-person narration technique. His impersonal presence can be felt throughout the poem. He makes intended efforts to withhold his own emotions and sentiments. This type of narration gives the poem a factual feel. The narrator remains emotionally detached so that the text appears realistic to readers. One may get the true picture of 20th-century rural India and its traditions. Even while depicting the painful experience of his mother, the speaker refrains from sprinkling his emotions into the narrative. The poem is entirely built on irony and this very neutral and detached stance of Ezekiel gives the irony its intended sharpness.

Literary Devices & Figures of Speech

Ezekiel uses a number of poetic devices and figurative techniques in “Night of the Scorpion.” These include alliteration, onomatopoeia, metaphor, simile, symbolism, imagery, etc.

Alliteration

Alliteration is a literary device that occurs when an initial consonant sound is repeated in two or more nearby words. There are several alliterations employed in the poem adding to the overall rhythm. In some instances, this device adds sound effects similar to religious incantations. Readers can find alliteration in the following phrases:

• “ m y m other”
• “ s tung by a s corpion”
• “ P arting with his p oison”
• “ r isked the r ain”
• “ s corpion s hadows”
• “ s it s till”
• “ b irth/ b e b urned”
• “ p oison p urify”
• “ h erb and h ybrid”
• “ p oured a little p araffin”
• “ f lame f eeding”

Assonance occurs when a vowel sound is repeated in two or more nearby words. For instance, there is a recurrence of the “i” sound in “driven him” (line 3) and the “ei” (diphthong) sound in “rain again” (line 7). It also occurs in the following instances:

• “c a ndles and with l a nterns”
• “m o ther’s bl oo d”
• “h e s i t st i ll”
• “moth e r in the centr e ”

In “Night of the Scorpion,” Ezekiel makes use of symbols to represent different ideas and thoughts. The “rain” pouring steadily throughout adds to the gloomy atmosphere of the poem. The “rain” is symbolic of the constant pain of the mother.

The “shadows,” cast on sun-baked walls that took the form of a scorpion, indicate the hidden presence of an evil force. “Shadows,” as a motif, are often associated with a fear of the unknown that is in the backdrop of the poem.

The “peasants” represent the agrarian nature of rural India. They are also symbolic of a closely-knit community. The father’s use of every “curse and blessing” and different natural remedies like “powder, mixture, herb and hybrid” to cure the scorpion sting are symbolic of traditional healing techniques some of which still persist.

Imagery, as a literary device, helps readers form a mental image evoking the five senses. There are majorly four types of imagery present in the poem that include:

• Visual Imagery: This kind of imagery invokes the sense of vision. The poem is based entirely upon the retrospective visualization of a childhood incident. In order to paint the scenes, Ezekiel makes use of this type of imagery. For instance, he depicts how the scorpion stung his mother in the line, “flash/ of diabolic tail in the dark room.” He also uses visual images in “throwing giant scorpion shadows,” “I watched the flame feeding on my mother,” etc.
• Tactile Imagery: This kind of imagery invokes the sense of touch. It is used in “My mother twisted through and through,” “He even poured a little paraffin/ upon the bitten toe,” and “I watched the flame feeding on my mother.”
• Auditory Imagery: This kind of imagery is associated with the sense of hearing. For instance, the lines “buzzed the name of God a hundred times” and “They clicked their tongues” appeal to readers’ sense of hearing. Ezekiel uses the scheme of traditional chants in lines 18 through 29.
• Kinesthetic Imagery: This kind of imagery depicts movements. For instance, the stealthy movement of the scorpion is recorded in “to crawl beneath a sack of rice.” The way it stung the poet’s mother is depicted in “Parting with his poison—flash/ of diabolic tail in the dark room.”

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is characterized by the formation of a word from a sound. This device occurs in the following lines: “and buzzed the name of God a hundred times”; “They clicked their tongues.”; “more insects, and the endless rain .”; My mother twisted through and through/ groaning on a mat.”

A metaphor makes a reference to one thing by mentioning another. Throughout the poem, the scorpion is referred to by the words “diabolic” and “Evil One.” This creature is depicted in terms of human perception of evil, rather than as a creature ruled by primal instincts. The scorpion is literally demonized by the villagers.

A simile puts forth a comparison between two things using “like” or “as.” In “Night of the Scorpion,” this device is used in “The peasants came like swarms of flies.” The peasants are compared to swarms of files as they came in a large number. They came to help the stung mother. It seemed to the speaker that they formed a “swarm” around his mother as flies.

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis

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.

Ezekiel’s poem “Night of the Scorpion” begins in a retrospective fashion. The poem is narrated in first-person and readers are introduced to the main characters, the poet-speaker and his mother in the very first lines. He remembers the incident of his mother getting stung by a scorpion on a rainy night. In these lines, he employs a matter-of-fact approach in order to recollect the tragic event. The incessant ten-hour-long rain drove the scorpion to look for shelter under the rice sack as an act of survival.

Parting with his poison—flash of diabolic tail in the dark room— he risked the rain again.

Eventually, the scorpion stung the poet’s mother. It happened so fast that the speaker describes the act by using the word “flash.” Afterward, the scorpion fled the scene. The term “diabolic” represents the hooked tail of the scorpion. It is analogous to the devil’s fork. In this way, the poet depicts the scorpion as an evil creature or an embodiment of the devil himself.

The setting of Ezekiel’s poem is an Indian village in the pre-independence era. Rural Indians are characterized by their traditional beliefs. The rural culture has been infamous for using dangerous animals as symbols of evil. Thus the scorpion has been demonized for centuries. The fact remains a presumption but becomes obvious in the words, “flash/ of diabolic tail.”

The peasants came like swarms of flies and buzzed the name of God a hundred times to paralyse the Evil One.

These lines of “Night of the Scorpion” depict the repercussions of the scorpion sting. Since the majority of the Indian rural population is agrarian, Ezekiel makes a collective mention of them as “peasants.” Most of them lacked scientific temper (or they were poorly educated) and were unaware, so their first instinct upon their arrival was to make a mass appeal to God or the almighty. The invocation of God was in the hope to paralyze the “Evil One,” which represents the scorpion. The initials of the “Evil One” are capitalized. This is to reinforce the earlier superstitious argument regarding the scorpion as an embodiment of evil. Nonetheless, the peasants showed up to help in whatever way they could. This points to a sense of togetherness among rural Indians and sympathy, one of the important values in Indian tradition.

Lines 11-17

With candles and with lanterns throwing giant scorpion shadows on the sun-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.

After the instinctive action of praying to God, the peasants started their search for the scorpion with candles and lanterns. The “giant scorpion shadows” point to the scorpion’s evil presence. The shadows are analogous to the apprehension in villagers’ minds. In these lines, the backdrop conforms to pre-independence rural India. There was a lack of electricity as the villagers searched for the scorpion with the help of candles and lanterns. The “sun-baked walls” represent a traditional mud hut with a thatched roof (use of synecdoche). In contrast, the urban houses were made up of brick and mortar.

The search for the “diabolic” scorpion was in vain as it was nowhere to be found. The villagers’ disappointment is expressed through the expression, “They clicked their tongues.” Every single person present in the room was tensed. They believed that with every movement that the scorpion made, the poison would move inside the mother’s blood, worsening her suffering. These lines create a sense of unrest and suspense in readers’ minds as there seems to be no solution to ease the woman of her pain.

Lines 18-28

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 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,

The villagers could only hope for the scorpion to “sit still” so that the mother’s suffering would cease. After their attempts at finding and killing the “Evil One,” the defeated villagers finally resorted to consoling the mother. These consolations are related to the Indian concept of “Karma.” The villagers were of the view that with the excruciating pain the sins of her previous life would be “burned away” or nullified. They also emphasized that with this “suffering” of hers the “misfortunes” of her next life would also reduce.

In Hinduism, people believe in the concept of rebirth. They believe in the existence of a higher realm that goes beyond this life, which is just an illusion or “Maya.” This is why the villagers opined that the physical pain the mother was experiencing would balance out the evils of this “unreal world” and could diminish the “sum” totally. The poison of the scorpion would purge her soul as it would help her get rid of her bodily “desires” and spiritual “ambitions,” which are considered bad.

In “Night of the Scorpion,” the consolations offered by the peasants are extracted from age-old cultural beliefs. They remain prominent in the rural setting to date.

Lines 29-35

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.

The villagers then ultimately encircled the mother on the floor. All they could do was sympathize with her suffering as their suggestions had not yielded any relief. They were still there with her. In fact, there were “more candles, more lanterns, more neighbours.” The incessant rain added to the tense atmosphere inside the room. Besides, the increasing number of insects hints at humans’ curiosity about another person’s suffering and distress, similar to the insects that are drawn to the source of light for warmth.

In this section of “Night of the Scorpion,” the mother’s suffering is highlighted as the main cause of concern directly for the first time. She twisted through and through and groaned in pain on the floor. Up until this point, the poem seemed to be a report of the villagers’ activities, but in these lines, readers are finally introduced to the indisposed mother’s condition.

Lines 36-45

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.

In these lines, the character of the poet’s father is brought into play. He is addressed as a “sceptic,” as well as, a “rationalist.” The character of the father is in contrast with the superstitious villagers. He is the embodiment of the modern man. However, due to the suffering of his wife, he turned to his Indian roots and resorted to relying on “trying every curse and blessing,/ powder, mixture, herb and hybrid.” He also made use of some “paraffin” to literally burn away the effects of the sting.

The narrator watched the flame “feeding” (use of personification) on his mother. Interestingly, there is no mention of how he felt. He narrates the event in a detached and objective tone. Lastly, readers are introduced to another character. It is the “holy man,” who could possibly be a local healer. He performed holy rites and chanted an incantation. This was to stop the poison from spreading in the mother’s blood.

The effect of the sting lessened eventually. After suffering for twenty hours, the mother was finally relieved. These lines hint at the fact that nature always wins over humans. No matter how much the peasants, the neighbors, the father, and the holy man tried to cure the mother of the piercing scorpion sting, the cause lost its effect with the natural course of time.

Lines 46-48

My mother only said: Thank God the scorpion picked on me and spared my children.

Towards the end of the poem, “Night of the Scorpion,” the chaos and commotion finally came to an end as the mother was feeling a bit relieved after the long cycle of suffering. She was free from the excruciating sting. Up until this point, she had not uttered a single word, but as soon as she gained consciousness, her first words were for God. This reflects how devout she was. She was thankful to God that the scorpion picked on her as if it was intending to do so or it was its deliberate choice, not just an animal’s defensive response. She was also grateful because the scorpion spared her children. These concluding lines prove to be an exceptional example of a mother’s unconditional love for her children, and that mothers are not just loving and nurturing but also selfless and ever-watchful.

Faith and Superstition

“Night of the Scorpion” can be interpreted in the context of Indian culture, which often builds its foundation on faith and superstitions. There are various instances that bring out how superstition seeps into and is associated with rural people’s lives. Firstly, the very idea of the self-protective scorpion as “diabolic” or “Evil One” finds its origin in traditional legends. The peasants or the villagers, who came to extend their helping hands for the mother, started buzzing the name of God. They were in search of the scorpion in hopes of paralyzing the devilish creature. They also believed that with every movement of the scorpion, the poison would move in the mother’s blood causing her more pain.

When ultimately, they could not find the scorpion, they turned to seek answers from their spiritual beliefs. The villagers believed that the mother was only getting rid of her sins from her previous life. The suffering would lessen the misfortunes of her afterlife. They believed the poison would purify her flesh or body of all worldly desires and ambitions. She was, in simple words, spiritually purged in the process. Even when their intention was only to help, their approach found its basis not in logic, but in faith and superstitions.

Ezekiel is prominently known for addressing the issue of the identity of the modern individual. He often talks about city spaces and rural settings. What is also quite deep-rooted in his poems is the Indian culture or the theme of Indianness. His poem “Night of the Scorpion” also addresses this very Indianness. Readers are presented with a varied range of individuals who are reflective of the cultural milieu.

Firstly, there are the peasants, who are represented as a collective mass. They are believers of the Hindu concepts like “previous birth” and “afterlife” along with the spiritual purification process through suffering. They were of the view that the sting would purify the mother’s body and help her get rid of normal human instincts, such as “desires” and “ambitions.” Modern readers (even the Indian audience) feel at a distance from these peasants, but due to the poem’s cultural setting and Ezekiel’s skills of representation, readers are able to understand how they were feeling that night.

Secondly, Ezekiel introduces the father who was more rational in his ways. He employed both traditional and scientific methods in order to pacify his ailing wife. Readers may feel at one with his methods, but he seems to be an outsider amidst the traditional peasants. He represents someone, who could not get rid of his Indianness, and neither could he be entirely modern.

Lastly, there is the traditional “silent mother,” who only wishes the best for her children. She is situated in the Indian culture as a woman possessing divine qualities of selflessness, unconditional love, and pure devotion to her children. The character of the mother is somewhat deified in the poem. These divine attributes attached to motherhood are essential traits of Indianness. Besides, the mother’s character is also used as a representation of mother nature—another Indian belief.

In this way, a mother is created, perfected, silenced, and idealized in Indian culture. The very portrayal of the mother seems ironic in this poem. This is why “Night of the Scorpion” proves to be quite a realistic representation of Indian culture (or Indianness).

Motherly Love

The most overwhelming and radically dominant theme of “Night of the Scorpion” is the unconditional love a mother has for her children. In the concluding lines of the poem, Ezekiel marks the voice of the otherwise silent mother:

She only wished for her children’s interests. This attitude of hers proves to be quite sentimental and ironic for readers. She experienced a fatal scorpion sting, yet she was thankful that it got her, not her children. This is the characteristic trait of an Indian mother, idealized in Indian culture as a dutiful, selfless, and devout woman. Whatsoever, a mother continues to love, regardless of the cultural context. She loves in a way she would.

Historical Context

“Night of the Scorpion” was first published in Nissim Ezekiel’s collection of poetry entitled The Exact Name (1965). The poem is situated in an Indian rural backdrop, which points to the larger agrarian culture in India. Prior to independence, the rural Indian culture was in stark contrast to the emerging urban culture. Ezekiel was one of the most important Indian poets of the 20th century. He was a thoroughly modern poet evident in his stylistic form and use of themes. He moved away from the Indian poetic tradition that sought inspiration from legends and mythologies. His poetry appears fairly simple in the use of poetic techniques and diction.

Ezekiel wrote in free-verse and talked about culture, engaged in complexities of subject matter, and used fragmented language. There are some important elements of modernism evident in his poetry like the use of symbolism, wit, irony, and the stream-of-consciousness technique. He was moved by the emerging issues of his time. He talked about the themes of alienation, disillusionment, urbanity, rupture of tradition, and a movement away from social conventions, religion, and culture. Ezekiel often presents a conflicted, even detached self in his poems like the narrator in the poem, “Night of the Scorpion.”

Questions and Answers

The title of Nissim Ezekiel ’s poem, “Night of the Scorpion,” is a deceptive one as it does not talk about the scorpion at all. The scorpion proves to be a tool that steered the events of the night when the poet’s mother was stung by a scorpion. Readers are presented with the actions of the superstitious villagers, the rational father, the pious man, and, last but not least, the mother. After recovering from the sting, the mother thanked God for sparing her children and picking on her. The title still remains suitable and relevant as the narrative poem is highly descriptive and dwells on details that exist because of the scorpion. The emotionally detached narrator appears to be no more than a reporter of the event and its repercussions. His lack of emotions not only brings out the irony but also helps readers understand how the scorpion is, in a way, central to the poem’s subject.

Nissim Ezekiel is well known for his representation of Indian culture and situation in his poetry. He makes keen observations that are both descriptive and ironic. His poem “Night of the Scorpion” is one such typical example. This poem is particularly laced with Indianness in its depiction of the events that unfold traditions and superstitious beliefs and the mindset of the characters. The setting of the poem is an early 20th-century Indian village. Rural people are often regarded for their direct involvement in agricultural activities. Thus, Ezekiel collectively mentions the villagers as “peasants” in his poem. This is significant as most of the Indians live in rural areas and in closely-knit communities. Furthermore, Indian culture is packed with feelings of unity and collective good. This is very well documented in the poem. All the villagers came to the rescue of the mother when she was in great pain. Ezekiel also refers to two important aspects of Indian culture: faith and superstition. He also points out the popular beliefs revolving around “Karma,” which includes the concepts of previous life and the afterlife. Through this poem, Ezekiel not only comments on the positive aspects of Indian culture but also satirizes its peculiarities.

“Night of the scorpion” revolves around the clash between two opposites. This poem brings forth a divide between the emerging urban rationalism and rural traditionalism. The movement toward modernity was one of the popular motifs in the post-independence era. Ezekiel also puts forth the contrast between western and oriental beliefs. These dialectical ideas are illustrated through the actions of the villagers (also, the holy man) and that of the rational father. Both parties tried to cure the mother through their own sets of beliefs and methods, but in the end, it was only with time that the sting healed. So, in any sort of binaries ever created by humans, nature and time remain the superior forces. Interestingly, the qualities of mother nature are fused into the character of the mother, who only desired her children’s welfare.

The “Indian mother” holds a high and prominent position in Indian culture. In “Night of the Scorpion,” the mother somehow felt relieved knowing that her children were safe. It seems as if she was unbothered by her own sufferings so long as her children were unharmed. These virtues of selflessness and devotedness are associated with mothers. Motherhood is not looked at like a human idea but something that is divine. Even though readers are overwhelmed by the amount of love the mother had for her children, it is almost as if it was an expected end. In this way, Ezekiel idealizes motherhood in his poem.

The character of the father is introduced near the end of the poem “Night of the Scorpion.” That rainy night when the mother was stung by a scorpion, the villagers first reached out to help. Then the father implemented his remedies (both traditional and scientific) to heal his wife. The speaker describes him as a “sceptic” and “rationalist.” He is someone who has been influenced by western philosophy, which is characterized by the appeal to logic and reason, rather than to superstition often associated with the orient. He made use of all the methods known to him: “every curse and blessing” along with “power, mixture, herb and hybrid.” These methods may at first appear to be reasonable, but then he went on to burn the sting with the help of “paraffin” in hopes of relieving her of the pain. All his methods were of little or no avail. In a way, Ezekiel tries to highlight the superiority of reason and logic over superstitions through this character.

The use of irony is one of the characteristic features of Ezekiel’s poetry. Ezekiel, being one of the pioneer modern Indian poets, uses irony in a vivid manner in “Night of the Scorpion.” The first irony that becomes prominent in the poem finds its basis in the faith and superstitious beliefs of the villagers. After the mother was stung by a scorpion, the villagers swarmed to help. The first thing they did was buzz the name of God. Then they made claims about how the painful sting would help the mother get rid of her sins from her previous life and make her next life more fortunate. They opined that the poison would purify her body. While they were busy making such claims, the mother battled with the sting. The scorpion’s poison caused her enough pain to ignore their deeds or their piercing remarks. The next irony surfaces when the skeptical and rational father is introduced. He tried both the traditional, as well as, the modern ways known to him to cure his wife. Ultimately, he also failed in relieving her of her pain. Therefore, the traditional and modern methods failed to heal what could only be healed with time. This enhances the irony of the piece. Ironically, the mother remained silent throughout even though she was at the center of everybody’s attention. Readers are only made aware of her situation through these two lines of this 48-line-long poem: “My mother twisted through and through/ groaning on a mat.” Yet when she finally broke her silence, she only thanked God for sparing her children, even after suffering from such a deadly experience. In this way, Ezekiel brings out the devotedness of a mother to her children in an ironic way.

The poem “Night of the Scorpion” is about both. In this poem, Ezekiel depicts how the villagers reacted or acted upon their already existing belief system, which is predominantly Hindu. They tried every curse, blessing, or talk in order to relieve the mother of her misery. Similarly, they were superstitious enough to address the simple “scorpion,” as an “Evil” or “diabolic” one.

The poem was first published in 1965 in the collection, The Exact Name . In this poem, Ezekiel talks about an incident with his mother that occurred in his childhood.

In “Night of the Scorpion,” Ezekiel incorporates a number of themes that are integral to the overall subject matter. The main theme of the poem is the faith and superstitious beliefs of Indians. There are some other themes like Indianness, motherly love, good vs. evil, and rationalism vs. traditionalism.

The narrator of the poem is one who reports one subjective incident in an objective manner. It could be the poet Nissim Ezekiel himself. He uses a detached persona in order to describe the events of that night.

“Night of the Scorpion” is a free-verse narrative poem that describes the events of a night when the narrator’s mother was stung by a scorpion. Ezekiel does not use a set rhyme scheme or meter in the poem. There are a total of 48 lines that are grouped into a single stanza.

The concluding message of Ezekiel’s poem is that a mother always looks out for her children’s welfare even if she has been suffering herself. Another important message that Ezekiel tries to communicate through this poem is how traditional methods heighten the suffering of an individual in spite of decreasing it. Sympathy fails to comfort one, who is in a life-or-death situation.

Some of the important literary devices used in Ezekiel’s “Night of the Scorpion” are symbolism, alliteration, onomatopoeia, metaphor, irony, and imagery.

In the poem, the “scorpion” symbolizes humankind’s fear of the unknown. Alternatively, it is also representative of any living creature trying to protect itself from danger. It is the superstitious people who think the creature is an “Evil One” having a “diabolic tail.”

The “scorpion” is neither a villain nor an antagonist in the poem. It is just a simple animal that stung the mother as a defensive mechanism. The creature was more fearful of humans than the villagers were of it. Therefore, it could be said that it is the villagers who demonized the scorpion for stinging the mother.

The tone of “Night of the Scorpion” is objective, impersonal, and ironic. It is interesting to note that even though the narrator describes one of his childhood events revolving around his mother, he remains detached and objective throughout the narrative. He depicts the events as they actually occurred that night in a sarcastic and satirical tone.

Similar Poems about Indianness & Motherhood

• “ Sita ” by Toru Dutt — In this poem, Dutt talks about the emotional story of Sita’s second exile.
• “ My Mother at Sixty-Six ” by Kamala Das — This poem is about the poet’s aging mother and how she felt sad for her while leaving her behind.
• “ The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver ” by Edna St. Vincent Millay — This poem is about a poor mother who could not provide for her son.
• “ Palanquin Bearers ” by Sarojini Naidu — This is a poetic version of Indian folk songs sung by palanquin bearers while carrying a newlywed bride.

Useful Resources

• Check Out The Oxford India Anthology of Twelve Modern Indian Poets — This collection includes some of the finest Indian-English verses by Nissim Ezekiel, Jayanta Mahapatra, A. K. Ramanujan, Arun Kolatkar, Keki N. Daruwalla, etc.
• Check Out A History of Indian English Literature — This book traces the course of Indian English literature from its beginning to recent times, dividing it into convenient periods in an engaging style.
• Nissim Ezekiel: A Modern Poet — Learn how Ezekiel broke attachment with the romantic past and established himself as the Indian representative of western modernism.
• About Nissim Ezekiel — Read about the life and works of Ezekiel.

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Amisha Dubey is pursuing a master's degree in English literature. She has always been a literature enthusiast. Her main forte is American and modern Indian poetry.

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• Night of the Scorpion

Read our detailed notes below on the poem Night of the Scorpion by Nissim Ezekiel. Our notes cover Night of the Scorpion summary, themes, and analysis.

Introduction

Nissim Ezekiel’s Night of the Scorpionis a solid yet straightforward explanation on the intensity of self-effacing love. Full to the overflow with Indianness, it catches a very much withdrew high contrast depiction of Indian town existing with all its superstitious straightforwardness. The writer sensationalizes a clash of thoughts battled during the evening in lamplight amongst great and insidiousness; amongst haziness and light; amongst realism and visually impaired confidence. What’s more, out of this disarray, there emerges a surprising champ – the magnanimous love of a mother.

Night of the Scorpion makes a significant effect on the reader with an interaction of pictures identifying with great and malicious, light and dimness. At that point the impact is elevated indeed with the droning of the general population and its mysterious, incantatory impact. The excellence of the poem lies in that the mother’s remark handles the people suddenly on basic, compassionate grounds with an unexpected punch. It might even help the reader to remember the shortsighted supplication of Leo Tolstoy’s three recluses: “Three are ye, three are we, show leniency upon us.”

Night of the Scorpion by Nissim Ezekiel Summary

• The poem opens in a way that recommends reflection—the speaker recollects the night his own mother was stung by a scorpion, which bit his mother as a result of its savage drive, while stowing away underneath a sack of rice to escape from the rain.
• The speaker particularly recollects this night because of this occasion in particular, the mother getting nibbled. The manner by which the mother is chomped is likewise appeared in ‘blaze of fiendish tail’; the speaker figures out how to propose that the scorpion is evil with its “diabolic” tail, and stresses its speed with the word streak.
• The scorpion at that point escapes the scene and, in this way, hazards the rain once more.
• A photo of a religious town is made by what the neighbors do to deaden the scorpion (“buzz the name of God”).
• Their purpose behind this is they trust that as the scorpion moves, his toxin moves in the blood of the mother.
• It is likewise suggested that they live in a minding, affectionate town by the way that the neighbors feel welcome by any stretch of the imagination.
• The speaker is disappointed by their entry, contrasting them with flies (undesirable and bothering) as they veritably hummed around the mother. They endeavored to give reasons and many depended on superstition to think about what the issue was.
• The villagers attempted to discover the scorpion yet they proved unable.
• By saying,” With candles and with lanterns throwing giant scorpion shadows on the sun-baked walls.” the speaker is suggesting there is as yet fiendish frequenting the house, even after the scorpion had gone out. This could likewise be inferring that the shadows of the different house hold utensils and different things are changed over by the cerebrum of the searchers into the shadow of a scorpion-as that is the thing that they are searching for.
• Numerous things were attempted to help calm the mother’s agony yet none worked. The speaker watches, defenseless.
• The speaker’s dad who was cynic and pragmatist, attempted to spare his better half by utilizing powder, blend, herbs, cross breed and even by pouring a little paraffin upon the chomped toe and put a match to it, this reflects to one of the town laborer saying, “May the transgressions of your past birth be consumed with extreme heat today around evening time.” Which the dad endeavors to do; not for consuming her wrongdoings but rather to consume with smoldering heat the toxic substance living inside the mother, which mirrors her transgressions being gave penance for.
• The speaker watches the vain sacred man playing out his beguiling spells yet he can’t successfully stop it.
• The laborers, at last tolerating the destiny of the mother, endeavor to put a positive turn on the circumstance by saying that regardless of whether the mother kicked the bucket, her next life (An Indian Conviction) would be less difficult, as she making amends for her future sins by persevering through this agony.
• Following twenty hours, the toxic substance loses its sting and the mother is alright. An indication of her overall love and love for her youngsters is demonstrated when she expresses gratitude toward God that she was stung and not her kids.

It originated from a religious foundation and Nissim composed this lyric endeavoring to give the impression of outrage, yet additionally a fundamental message of protective love, alongside a trace of culture and superstition.

Themes of the Poem

Main theme:.

Pictures of the dim powers of insidiousness possess large amounts of Night of the Scorpion; the underhanded tail of the scorpion, goliath scorpion shadows on the sun-prepared dividers and the night itself point to detestable. Truth be told, the ballad is about the correlated inquiry with respect to what can overcome fiendish. Where superstition, logic and religion demonstrated useless, the self-destroying affection for a mother had its say. Indeed it is “Love vincit omnia.” Love overcomes all, and that is all you have to know.

Superstition:

Superstition is an imperative topic that is canvassed in the verse of Nissim Ezekiel. His verse investigates certain aspects of the Indian life that are so frequently addressed and thought about out of date, yet at the same time pervasive. In Night of The Scorpion, Nissim Ezekiel depicts a circumstance that is illustrative of the rustic Indian ethos and draws out the commonness of such a circumstance.

Night of the Scorpion by Nissim Ezekiel Literary Analysis

• Night of the Scorpion is a free verse poem with 8 stanzas and a total of 47 lines.
• There is no set rhyme scheme and the meter is mixed.
• The scorpion is seen by some as an evil force, bringer of pain and hardship and even death. Note the use of the word  diabolic as the desperate creature stings the woman and makes off out into the rain.
• The peasants are seen as being superstitious and old fashioned, even illiterate, not having moved on in their thinking and culture.
• The father meanwhile is just the opposite in the sense that he is a rational, reductive type of person who is unimpressed with the peasants and their mumbo-jumbo. Yet, he resorts to using paraffin on the mother’s toe, setting it alight, not a very scientific response.
• The mother perseveres, she is in agony all night but finally triumphs and does not succumb to the venom of the scorpion. For all that time she was unable to utter a word, capable only of groans, until the pain subsided and the relief she felt gave her the power to sum her experience up: thank goodness it was her who took the sting and not her children, for they probably would not have survived.
• “Night of the scorpion” is ordinarily an Indian poem by an Indian writer whose enthusiasm for the Indian soil and its customary human occasions of everyday Indian life is sublime. A decent numerous Indians are ignorant and are indiscriminately superstitious. In any case, they are straightforward, adoring and adorable. They endeavor to spare the casualty by doing whatever they can. Be that as it may, they don’t succeed.
• The poem is translated as an emblematic juxtaposition of haziness and light. The night, the scorpion, the toxic substance and the agony speak to dimness. The ceaseless rain remains for expectation and recovery. Candles, lamps, neighbors and at last the recuperation of the mother speak to light. The poem can likewise be thought of as emblematic of Good and Insidiousness as well.
• Ezekiel uses a simile comparing the villagers to ‘swarms of flies’ (line 8). It is striking that he uses an insect image to describe the people’s reaction to an invertebrate’s sting. He develops the simile in the following line: ‘they buzzed the name of God’ (line 9). What does the fly simile suggest about Ezekiel’s attitude to the neighbors?
• The neighbors’ candles and lanterns throw ‘giant scorpion shadows’ on the walls (line 13). We know that the scorpion has already fled, so are these images of the people themselves? (A scorpion has eight legs, so the shadow of a small group of people standing together could look like a scorpion.) If so, what does this show about Ezekiel’s attitude to the neighbors?
• There is a contrast between the neighbors’ ‘peace of understanding’ (line 31) and the mother who ‘twisted… groaning on a mat’ (line 35). It is ironic that they are at peace because of her discomfort.
• There is alliteration throughout the poem that helps to link or emphasize ideas: the scorpion is seen ‘Parting with his poison’ (line 5), Ezekiel’s father tries ‘herb and hybrid’ (line 38), Ezekiel sees ‘flame feeding’ (line 41) on his mother. Underline other examples of alliteration and see if you can explain the effectiveness of their use? • There is a lot of repetition, so that we hear the villagers’ prayers and incantations. Ezekiel uses direct speech, ‘May…’ to dramatize the scene and the echoed ‘they said’ is like a chorus: A group of characters in classical Greek drama who comment on the action but don’t take part in it. In a song, the chorus is a section that is regularly repeated.

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Nissim Ezekiel’s Night of the Scorpion: Summary & Analysis

Nissim Ezekiel’s Night of the Scorpion is a strong yet simple statement on the power of self-effacing love. Full to the brim with Indianness, it captures a well-detached black and white snapshot of Indian village life with all its superstitious simplicity. The poet dramatizes a battle of ideas fought at night in lamplight between good and evil; between darkness and light; between rationalism and blind faith. And out of this confusion, there arises an unexpected winner – the selfless love of a mother.

The poem opens with the poet’s reminiscence of a childhood experience. One night his mother was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours of steady rain had driven the scorpion to hiding beneath a sack of rice. After inflicting unbearable pain upon the mother with a flash of its diabolic tail, the scorpion risked the rain again.

The peasant-folk of the village came like swarms of flies and expressed their sympathy. They believed that with every movement the scorpion made, the poison would move in mother’s blood. So, with lighted candles and lanterns they began to search for him, but in vain.

To console the mother they opened the bundle of their superstitions. They told mother that the suffering and pain will burn away the sins of her previous birth. “May the suffering decrease the misfortunes of your next birth too”, they said.

Mother twisted and groaned in mortifying pain. Her husband, who was sceptic and rationalist, tried every curse and blessing; powder, herb and hybrid. As a last resort he even poured a little paraffin on the bitten part and put a match to it.

The painful night was long and the holy man came and played his part. He performed his rites and tried to tame the poison with an incantation. After twenty hours the poison lost its sting.

The ironic twist in the poem comes when in the end the mother who suffered in silence opens her mouth. She says, “Thank God the scorpion picked on me and spared my children.”

Night of the Scorpion creates a profound impact on the reader with an interplay of images relating to good and evil, light and darkness. Then the effect is heightened once again with the chanting of the people and its magical, incantatory effect. The beauty of the poem lies in that the mother’s comment lands the reader quite abruptly on simple, humane grounds with an ironic punch. It may even remind the reader of the simplistic prayer of Leo Tolstoy’s three hermits: “Three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us.”

Indian Background:   Ezekiel is known to be a detached observer of the Indian scenario and this stance often has the power of a double-edged sword that cuts both ways. On the one side Night of the Scorpion presents an Indian village through the eyes of an outsider and finds the deep-rooted strains of superstition and blind faith which may seem foolish to the western eye. But on the other, the poem never fails to highlight the positive side of Indian village life. The poet does not turn a blind eye to the fellow-feeling, sympathy and cooperation shown by the villagers. And in a poem that deals with the all-conquering power of love, the reader too should be well aware of it.

Clash of Ideas:   There is a contrast between the world of irrationality represented by the villagers and the world of rationalism represented by the father who tries all rational means to save his wife from suffering. Religion too plays its role with the holy man saying his prayers. But all three become futile. Or do they? One cannot totally ignore the underlying current of love and fellow-feeling in their endeavours.

Theme:   Images of the dark forces of evil abound in  Night of the Scorpion ; the diabolic tail of the scorpion, giant scorpion shadows on the sun-baked walls and the night itself point to evil. In fact, the poem is about the pertinent question as to what can conquer evil. Where superstition, rationalism and religion proved futile, the self-effacing love of a mother had its say. Once again it is “Amor vincit omnia.” Love conquers all, and that is all you need to know.

About Nissim Ezekiel Read Three Hermits by Leo Tolstoy

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Critical Analysis of the Poem Night of the Scorpion by Nissim Ezekiel

Nissim Ezekiel's subject in the poem has been drawn from the spectrum of Indian life. Night of the Scorpion deals with Indian customs, superstitious, blind faith and dogmatism juxtaposed with rational thinking. Ezekiel here shuns any comment on what he faithfully records and describes. The reader is free to draw his own conclusions.

The universally admired and acclaimed Night of the Scorpion (from The Exact Name , 1965) describes an Indian situation through forceful imagery, its ironic contrasts and the warmth of human love and affection. It is a brilliant narrative poem without any break or division into stanzas, except for the last three lines which stand apart:

“My mother only said  Thank God the scorpion picked on me  and spared my children.”

The speaker might be the poet himself or an imagined persona who speaks in the first person. We are told that his mother was stung by a scorpion one rainy night. It had been raining continuously for ten hours and, during this time, a scorpion had sought shelter beneath a bag of rice in the dark room. It stung the speaker's mother when she came to the room to fetch some rice. Having emptied its diabolic tail of all poison, it crawled out, risking its life in the rain again rather than being hunted and killed by the peasants with “lanterns and candles” who had come there on hearing the shrieks of the mother.

The peasants and neighbours gathered in a flash like a swarm of flies while the mother was lying in the centre of the room, crying with pain. They “buzzed” incantations and mantras in the name of God. Simple, well - meaning people, they were confident of the efficacy of prayer that could paralyse or render ineffective the harm caused by the scorpion, the symbol of evil. Ignorant and superstitious, they believed that if the scorpion moved, its poison would also move in the mother's blood. But if it remained still, the poison would not flow and spread. When they failed to locate the scorpion, they “clicked their tongues” in disappointment and started praying in order to exorcise evil.

“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 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 ambitions,  they said …”

All this while, the mother was writhing in pain as “more candles, more lanterns, more neighbours, more insects, and the endless rain” poured in. The speaker thus juxtaposes the world of myth, magic and superstition with the world of science, rationalism and scepticism. The speaker's father tried “powder, mixture, herb and hybrid” to ease the pain of his wife. He even poured paraffin on the bitten toe to burn out the poison as the child watched the flames with interest amidst the chanting of incantations and prayers for the mother's recovery and well – being. She suffered intense agony for full twenty hours till the pain subsided automatically.

The poem evokes superstitious practices which we still haven't outgrown. It enacts an impressive ritual in which the mother's reaction, towards the end, to her own suffering cancels out earlier responses, both primitive and sophisticated. The inter-relationship between the domestic tragedy and the surrounding community is unobtrusively established. According to Paul Varghese, “The success of the poet lies in the careful variation of rhythm which helps him to achieve different effects.”

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Night of the Scorpion By Nissim Ezekiel: Summary, Paraphrase, Analysis and Questions

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Night of the Scorpion By Nissim Ezekiel

The famous poem “Night Of The Scorpion” was written by a well-known writer Nissim Ezekiel. It was first published in 1965 in his work “The Exact Name”. It is a narrative poem. The poem is a poignant and touching poetic portrayal of a rustic situation evocative of the Indian ethos. The poem written in free verse has a terse ending characteristic of the style of English writing of many modern Indian poets. This poem, it is believed, is an expression of his childhood experience when a scorpion stung his own mother. He witnessed the drama following the scorpion bite. The poem is only a reaction to the experience he had.

Paraphrase of the poem

The poem is written in a typical Indian convention that uses Indian English and Indian culture. It shows the reactions of a typical peasant family of the lower middle class to a scorpion bite. The poem highlights the superstitions and beliefs that the average Indian has.

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To recall the incident, the poet uses the flashback technique. He remembers the night when he saw the whole drama of scorpion bite as a child. We find a variety of responses from the family and the neighbours. Most of the reactions are irrational, but at the same time, they represent one’s concerns and one’s fellow-feeling. The poem highlights the helpful nature of the Indians.

The poem begins with the poet’s recollection of the scorpion of his mother’s incident. The night was dark and dreary, accompanied by the rain. It had been raining for ten long hours. It was at this time that the scorpion was crawling near to the sack of rice.

The poet compares the scorpion to a devil with a diabolic or devilish tail. The scorpion comes out of his hiding place and in the darkness his devilish tale flashes. When he comes out, he risks the rain and bites his mother. The Scorpion moves out quickly in the rain. The peasants of the neighbourhood gather like swarms of flies in the poet’s hut at the very next moment. To relieve his mother from the torturous pain, the peasants chant prayers to God. They had a belief they could paralyse the scorpion poison by doing so. Together, they also try to find the evil scorpion in the dark. Lanterns and candles are held by the peasants and their giant scorpion shadows are cast on the sun-baked walls. Their efforts, unfortunately, are in vain. Their tongues were clicking in disappointment. They actually believed in the superstition that if the scorpion is found and killed, the poison in his mother’s body would be killed. But since it’s not found, they believe that as the scorpion is moving around alive, its poison is moving in his mother’s blood.

They begin to pray to God that the scorpion will remain. For his mother, the peasants say that his mother is suffering because of the sins of her previous birth, and they want those sins to be burned with her suffering that night. They also believe that since she is suffering from this birth, the misfortunes of her next birth will be reduced.

They pray that her pain should balance the sum of the balance of evil in this world with the sum of good. They firmly believe that the poison will purify their body and mind from all desires and ambitions. The peasants were sitting around the mother in pain, lying in the centre. With peace and understanding, their faces were serene. As the number of visitors increased, the number of candles, lanterns, insects and rains increased in torrents.

The mother had been twisting on the mat with endless pain. The poet’s father was sceptical and rationalist, but he tried all the herbs, hybrids, powders, mixtures and curses and blessings available. He experimented scientifically on a bit of a toe by pouring a little paraffin and lighting it. A holy man was introduced to perform rites and rituals to nullify the effect of the poison with his holy incantations.

Summary of the Poem

The poem opens in a way that recommends reflection—the speaker remembers the night that his own mother was stung by a scorpion, which bit his mother as a result of his wild drive while stowing away under a sack of rice to escape the rain. In particular, the speaker remembers that night, because of this occasion, the mother gets nibbled. The manner in which the mother is chomped also appears in the ‘blaze of the fiendish tail;’ the speaker points out how to suggest that the scorpion is evil with its ‘diabolic’ tail and emphasises its speed with the word streak. The scorpion at that point escapes from the scene and in this way, once again threatens the rain.

A photo of a religious town is taken of what the neighbours are doing to kill the scorpion (“Buzz the Name of God”). Their purpose behind this is to believe that as the scorpion moves, his toxin moves in the blood of the mother. It is also suggested that they live in a thoughtful, affectionate city in the way that the neighbours feel welcome in any part of their imagination. The speaker was disappointed by their entry, contrasting them with flies (unwanted and annoying) as they were really humming around the mother. They tried to give reasons, and many depended on the superstition to think about what was going on. The villagers tried to discover the scorpion, but they proved unable to do so. By saying, “With candles and lanterns throwing giant scorpion shadows on the sun-baked walls.” The speaker is suggesting that the house is still fiendish, even after the scorpion had gone out. It could also be inferred that the shadows of different household utensils and things are changed over the brains of the searchers into the shadows of the scorpion-as that is what they are looking for. Numerous things have been tried to help calm the agony of the mother, but none have worked. The speaker watches, defenceless.

The father of the speaker, who was cynical and pragmatist, tried to spare his better half by using powder, blend, herbs, crossbreed and even by pouring a little paraffin on the chomped toe and putting a match to it this reflects one of the city workers saying, “May the transgressions of your past birth be consumed with extreme heat today around evening time”.Which the father tries to do not to consume her wrongdoings, but rather to consume the toxic substance living inside the mother with smouldering heat, which reflects her transgressions for which penance is given.

The speaker watches the vain holy man perform his beguiling spells, but he can’t stop it successfully. The workers finally tolerating the mother’s destiny, attempt to put a positive turn on the situation by stating that her next life (An Indian Conviction) would be less difficult regardless of whether the mother kicked the bucket, as she would make amends for her future sins by persevering through this agony. The toxic substance loses its sting after twenty hours and the mother is all right. When she expresses gratitude to God that she was stung and not her children, an indication of her general love and love for her youth is shown.

It originated from a religious foundation, and this lyrical effort was composed by Nissim to give the impression of outrage, but also, along with a trace of culture and superstition, a fundamental message of protective love.

Appreciation of the poem ‘The Night of the Scorpion’

The poem ‘The Night of the Scorpion’ by Nissim Ezekiel, revolves around the sting of a scorpion that the poet’s mother experienced on a rainy night. The poem follows the narrative style of storytelling where an incident is narrated in a free verse having no fixed rhyme scheme. The poem is enriched using various figures of speech such as Alliteration , Antithesis , Hyperbole, Inversion, Metaphor, Onomatopoeia, Oxymoron, Repetition, Simile, and Transferred Epithet. An example of Personification from the poem is “I watched the flame feeding on my mother” as the flame is given the human quality of ‘feeding’. The poem is a first-person account of how a son (the poet) watches helplessly as his mother suffers from a scorpion’s sting. The villagers’ blessings and curses, a holy man’s chants and the rational husband’s experiments cannot bring relief to the poet’s mother. It shows how the behaviour of the villagers is characterised by their illiteracy and the lack of medical facilities, which thereby results in blind beliefs and superstitions.

Theme of the poem

Ezekiel narrates how the mother of the speaker is stung by a poisonous scorpion. He juxtaposes the pain and horror of the event with a humorous portrayal of the attitudes of the simple and ignorant but concerned villagers. The poem depicts the supernatural elements that the villagers strongly believe. We come across some irrational beliefs that are prevalent in rural society, such as the movement of the scorpion would speed up the movement of the poison in the body of his mother. It also highlights the villagers’ concern about even a small incident like a scorpion bite in the neighbourhood. It also shows the affection that a mother has for her children and the pain that she suffers in silence as it ensures the safety of her children.

Reflection of superstition in the poem

Throughout the poem, Ezekiel emphasises the hold of superstition on the Indian social psyche with a rare insight and sensitivity. The poem conveys the typical superstitious attitude of the Indian peasants to life through an ordinary event in which the scorpion stings the mother of the speaker and the neighbours react impulsively. Even in the dark, the neighbours are equipped with candles and lanterns to locate the guilty scorpion as they want to kill it. They believe that the death of the scorpion would nullify the effect of the poison on the victim’s body. At the same time, the villagers were continually chanting the name of God to paralyse the scorpion. They feel that the mother is suffering because of the sins of her previous birth, or that she is reducing the sufferings of her next birth. They also believe that their suffering will reduce the sum of evil and add to the sum of good in the world. It is believed that the poison will purify her soul from the material desires and her spirit of its ambitions. A sacred man is also called to perform various rites to tame the poison with his incantations. Thus the poem is a beautiful picture of a typical Indian scenario of a trivial incident like a scorpion bite and its post effects.

Traditional Approach versus modern approach

The poem talks about the traditions and beliefs of the villagers at the scorpion bite. As mentioned earlier, the poem moves around traditional villagers’ approaches to cure the mother of the poison of a scorpion bite. They try every possible traditional remedy, such as holy incantations, scorpion hunting for killing, prayers, and so on. On the other hand, we find only one rational figure in the chaos around us, that is, the father of the poet. He’s a sceptical and rational person. Rather than believing in the curses and blessings, he feels that practical efforts are more fruitful. He tried all the available powder, mixture, herbs and hybrids. He tried to cure his wife with bitter poison. He poured a little paraffin over her bitten toe and lighted it with a match. The toe was in flames, and he expected the poisoned blood to burn and heal it. Somehow, after a few efforts, she was finally healed after twenty long painful hours. The poem keeps moving between the traditional and modern approach for curing a victim of a poisonous scorpion bite.

Indian philosophy followed by the villagers

The poem portrays many beliefs prevalent in the philosophy of India. The ‘karma’ theory is one of the dominant ideologies of Indian philosophy, believing that rewards or punishments inflicted on an individual are the results of his own ‘karma’ or deeds. The villagers in the poem believe that the mother suffered because of the scorpion bite because of the sins of her past birth, or maybe the next birth reduced her suffering. They also feel that the sum of goodwill balance her suffering against that of the sum of evil.

In the poem, the Indian philosophy of purification in suffering is underlined. The villagers say that the victim’s suffering will purify her of her bodily desires and ambitions that are material. This will bring her soul close to that of the all-powerful God.

Analysis of the poem

Night of the Scorpion is a free verse poem with 8 stanzas and a total of 47 lines. There is no set rhyme scheme. The meter is mixed.

The scorpion is seen by some as an evil force, bringer of pain and hardship and even death. Note the use of the word diabolic as the desperate creature stings the woman and makes off out into the rain.

The peasants are being superstitious and old fashioned, even illiterate, not having moved on in their thinking and culture.

The father meanwhile is just the opposite in the sense that he is a rational, reductive type of person who is unimpressed with the peasants and their mumbo-jumbo. Yet, he resorts to using paraffin on the mother’s toe, setting it alight, not a very scientific response.

The mother perseveres, she is in agony all night but finally triumphs and does not succumb to the venom of the scorpion. For all that time she was unable to utter a word, capable only of groans until the pain subsided and the relief she felt gave her the power to sum her experience up thank goodness it was her who took the sting and not her children, for they probably would not have survived.

“Night of the scorpion” is ordinarily an Indian poem by an Indian writer whose enthusiasm for the Indian soil and its customary human occasions of everyday Indian life is sublime. A decent numerous Indians are ignorant and are indiscriminately superstitious. In any case, they are straightforward, adoring and adorable. They endeavour to spare the casualty by doing whatever they can. Be that as it may, they don’t succeed.

The poem is translated as an emblematic juxtaposition of haziness and light. The night, the scorpion, the toxic substance and the agony speak to dimness. The ceaseless rain remains for expectation and recovery. Candles, lamps, neighbours and at last the recuperation of the mother speak to light. The poem can likewise be thought of as emblematic of Good and Insidiousness as well.

Ezekiel uses a simile comparing the villagers to ‘swarms of flies’ (line 8). It is striking that he uses an insect image to describe the people’s reaction to an invertebrate’s sting. He develops the simile in the following line: ‘they buzzed the name of God’ (line 9).

What does the fly simile suggest about Ezekiel’s attitude to the neighbours?

The neighbours’ candles and lanterns throw ‘giant scorpion shadows’ on the walls (line 13). We know that the scorpion has already fled, so are these images of the people themselves? (A scorpion has eight legs, so the shadow of a small group of people standing together could look like a scorpion.) If so, what does this show about Ezekiel’s attitude to the neighbours?

There is a contrast between the neighbours’ ‘peace of understanding’ (line 31) and the mother who ‘twisted… groaning on a mat’ (line 35). Ironically, they are at peace because of her discomfort.

There is alliteration throughout the poem that helps to link or emphasize ideas: the scorpion is seen ‘Parting with his poison’ (line 5), Ezekiel’s father tries ‘herb and hybrid’ (line 38), Ezekiel sees ‘flame feeding’ (line 41) on his mother. Underline other examples of alliteration and see if you can explain the effectiveness of their use? There is a lot of repetition so that we hear the villagers’ prayers and incantations. Ezekiel uses direct speech, ‘May…’ to dramatize the scene and the echoed ‘they said’ is like a chorus: A group of characters in classical Greek drama who comment on the action but don’t take part in it. In a song, the chorus is a section that is regularly repeated.

Questions and Answers

Answer the following questions in brief.

1. What are the villagers searching for in the dark of the night?

Answer: The villagers are searching for the scorpion in the dark of the night.

2. Who is the only rational person among the villagers?

Answer: The poet’s father is the only rational person among the villagers.

3. How is the mother going to be benefited from her suffering?

Answer: She will either reduce her sins of past birth or her next birth.

4. Where was the scorpion hiding before he stung the mother?

Answer: The scorpion was hiding beneath a sack of rice.

5. Why is the scorpion’s tail called ‘diabolic’?

Answer: The scorpion is compared to the devil and the devil is supposed to be diabolic.

6. Why are the peasants buzzing the name of God?

Answer: The peasants are buzzing the name of God to paralyze the scorpion.

7. What is the poison going to purify?

Answer: The poison will purify the flesh of desire and the spirit of ambition.

8. Which experiment was performed by the father in the poem?

Answer: The father poured paraffin on the bitten toe and put a match to it.

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