NIGHT OF THE SCORPION





NIGHT OF THE SCORPION

'Night of the Scorpion' was written by Nissim Ezekiel .he was born in Mumbai in India. he was an explorative poet with a strain of religious philosophy flowing through his verse.





the poems open with the poet's reminiscence of a childhood experience one night his mother was stung by a scorpion. in the ten hours of steady rain had driven the scorpion to hide beneath a sack of rice. than after inflicting unbearable pain upon the mother with a flash of its diabolic tail, the scorpion risked the rain again.





the poet says in 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 vain.





in that busy to console to mother they opened the bundle of their superstitions they told a mother that the suffering and pain will burn away the sins of her previous birth. that may the suffering decrease the misfortunes of your next birth too they said. his mother was twisted and groaned in mortifying pain her husband who was skeptic and rationalist tired every curse and blessing powder herb and hybrid as a last resort he even pored a little paraffin on the bitten part and put a match to it.





the terror 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.





in the poem, the ironic twist 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".





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