Structure and language

Structure

The poem is written in free versefree verse: Poetry that has little or no rhyme scheme, regular pattern of rhythms, or line lengths. 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.

Sometimes, this poem will be printed as if it were prose. What differences does it make when it is set out in lines? What, if anything, do the lines and the breaks between them contribute?

Language

A Sadhu

Think about how the language the poet uses helps to convey his ideas. Here are some points to consider:

• The title is in some ways deceptive. It leads us to believe we are in for a frightening and dramatic tale with a scorpion taking centre stage. In fact, the poem is not about the scorpion at all, but about the reactions of different people to its sting.
• The poem starts off in the first person [first person: The 'I' or 'we' used by a narrator who is a participant in a narrative, in contrast to the third person 'he', 'she' or 'they' of a narrator who is not directly involved. ] - Ezekiel describes an event that really happened. However, he does not give his own feelings or reactions: we realise he is merely the narrator. Most of the poem is in the third personthird person: The verb form that indicates the action is being done neither by the speaker ('I') or by the person being addressed ('you'), but by a third person - a 'he', 'she' or 'they'., as Ezekiel reports on what other people do and say.
• Ezekiel does not portray the scorpion as a villain: it was driven to shelter 'beneath a sack of rice' (line 4) after ten hours of rain. It probably stung the poet's mother instinctively as a warning to her when she approached its hiding place, rather than harming her on purpose; and having delivered the sting, scared off the people indoors, 'he risked the rain again' (line 7).
• However, the villagers are more superstitious and link the scorpion to 'the Evil One' (line 10). They claim that the poison will help in many ways. For example, by burning away the sins of the woman's former life - 'her previous birth' (line 19) - and ease her life after this one - 'her next birth' (line 22). Perhaps this is their way of making sense of the event: if good comes out of it, it is easier to bear.
• The events of the night are described in rich detail - we know about the mud hut and the candles and lanterns, yet we know little about the individual neighbours. Ezekiel lumps the neighbours together as 'they'. What effect does this have?
• Ezekiel's father is usually a sceptic and a rationalist - in other words, he does not believe in superstitions and is not religious. Yet when his wife is suffering, he tries 'every curse and blessing' (line 37) to help her. The final, simple 'After twenty hours / it lost its sting' (lines 44-5) is a put down: nothing worked, after all.
• The final three lines are poignant. We hear Ezekiel's mother's exact words, her simple speech is in contrast to the gabbling neighbours. She doesn't show any bitterness about her ordeal: she is just grateful that she was the one who was hurt rather than her children. (Children are more vulnerable to scorpion bites than adults.) She thanks God (line 47). Do you feel that the poet sees the god she prays to as more powerful than the spirits the neighbours were conjuring with?