INTRODUCTION:
Nissim Ezekiel is a
famous poet of in the Indian History. He was born in the year 1924. He is an
actor, playwright, poet, editor and critic. He was awarded Sahitya Academy in
1983 for Latter Day Psalms. His works like The Unfinished Man, The Exact Man,
Hymns In Darkness are famous among all. His works exhibit an insight into the
hearts of the readers. He died in the year 2004
THE NIGHT OF THE SCORPION:
The Night of the
Scorpion is a famous poem from the poetry collections of Ezekiel. The poem
shows the superstitious belief of the people. The speaker of the poem remembers
the night his mother was stung by a Scorpion. The poet explains the appearance
of the Scorpion, the reaction of the villagers, and the father’s rationalism.
ON A RAINY DAY:
The
poet remembers the night when his mother was stung by the Scorpion. The
Scorpion rice. The scorpion’s poison flash of the diabolic tail. It came into
the dark room and has bitten the speaker’s mother.
THE PEASANTS:
The peasants came to
see the mother who is suffering from the pain. The poet compares the peasants
arrival to the swarm of flies. They all came and buzzed the name of God a
hundred times for paralyzing the pain of the mother. They all came with
lanterns and candles. The shadows of the peasants looked like Giant Scorpion on the walls of the house. The
peasants searched for the scorpion. But they didn’t find the Scorpion.
SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEF:
The villagers believed
that the poison moved in mother’s blood if the scorpion moved further. They
were in suspicion that the scorpion is still in the house. They told that the
sins of the mother’s previous birth would be burned away in the night. They all
said
‘May
your suffering decrease the misfortunes if your next birth’.
The villagers wished
that the sum of evil would balance the sum of good due to the pain. They also
told that the poison would purify the mother’s flesh of desire and also the
spirit of ambition.
More candles, more
lanterns: more neighbours,
More insects, and the
endless rain
THE FATHER’S REACTION:
The
speaker’s mother suffered in pain. The poet tells “My mother twisted through
and through, groaning on a mat”. The poet calls the father as a sceptic and
rationalist. He tried all the methods to cure the pain of the mother. He used
powder, herb and hybrid. He also poured a little paraffin upon the bitten area.
He also lightened the paraffin. The poet watched the flame feeding on the
mother.
CONCLUSION:
The holy man performed all the rites to tame the poison.
He also tried to cure the pain with the incantation. The pain was lost after twenty
hours. The mother woke up and told “ Thank God, the Scorpion picked on me
and spared my children”. The poet
concludes the poem with the strong love of mother. The poem shows the
uncontrollable affection and care of the mother