comparrison of snake poems

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Compare the ways that D.H.Lawrence and Emily Dickinson describe their encounters with snakes in their poems of the same name

It is a common belief that snakes are venomous and deceitful creatures, but in my opinion, snakes are pleasant animals. I will now examine two poems about snakes to see whether the poets agree with my views.

In Emily Dickinson’s poem, she expresses her feelings towards a snake and briefly describes an encounter with one.

In D.H.Lawrence’s poem, he has a dilemma involving a snake: should he scare away the poisonous animal, or watch it in amazement.

Emily Dickinson wrote many poems, usually on the subject of nature. She wrote her poem Snake in 1865, whilst living in her hometown of Amherst, Massachusetts. She was a very creative and productive writer who grew up in a poetic family. Later in life, she became quite sickly and eventually became a recluse. Her doctors advised her not to read or write, but she was very enthusiastic about her writing, and continued regardless.

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D.H.Lawrence was living in Sicily when he wrote his poem Snake in 1923, almost sixty years after Emily Dickinson. He found serpents spell binding and was greatly interested in them. So interested, that around five years later while living in New Mexico, he wrote his novel The Plumed Serpent, based on a New Mexican deity called Quetzalcoatl.

In both poems, the poets each use personification. For instance, in D.H.Lawrence’s poem he uses the word ‘Him’ to describe the snake, which is a term usually used for humans, so its status is raised to that of a person. Also, I think ...

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