The night of the scorpion is a poem of warmth and love of mother. Assignment Topic The night of the scorpion is a poem of warmth and love of mother.

NISSIM EZEKIEL NISSIM EZEKIEL NISSIM EZEKIEL 1924-- 2004 ART-CRITIC AN INDIAN JEWISH POET NISSIM EZEKIEL NISSIM EZEKIEL PLAYWRIGHT EDITOR DRAMATIST 1924-- 2004

NISSIM EZEKIEL NISSIM EZEKIEL NIGHT OF THE SCORPION

NISSIM EZEKIEL NISSIM EZEKIEL NISSIM EZEKIEL

(i) Night of the scorpion I I) 1.Nissim Ezekiel (i) Night of the scorpion The poem describes an incident of a rainy night .It had been raining continuously for ten hours. The poet’s mother was stung by a scorpion on that night. She felt extreme pain because of scorpion biting .Many people living in the poet’s neighbourhood came to the poet’s house . They had candles and lanterns in their hands; they tried to search for the scorpion but it was not found any where.

They were expressing their superstitious views They were expressing their superstitious views. They said that the scorpion should be killed because its poison would move into the mother’s blood with its movement. They were praying to God to forgive their sins of the previous birth. They were making some other prayers too. The mother was sitting in the centre and all the neighbours were sitting around her. The number of people was increasing. There were many candles, many lanterns and many insects. The mother was impatient for she felt severe pain .She was God that the scorpion bit her and spared her children. groaning . The poet’s father treated her medically, but in vain .Neither medicine not superstitious methods could subside her pain. After twenty hours, the poisonous effect subsided. The mother thanked

Night of the scorpion: This poem stands like a mile –stone in Ezekiel’s poetry .According to Christopher Wiseman it is a “very valid poem continuing a fascinating tension between personal crisis and mocking social observation .” According to H.M.Williams” The peasant’superstitions about the scorpion are seen in juxtaposition to the modern scepticism of the father and the poetic of religious ritual.” This poem Night of the scorpion published in the Exact name ,1965. This is one of the finest poems of Nissim Ezekiel.

In the word of J.Birje Patil in Night of the scorpion evil is symbolized, by the scorpion and “we are made to participate in ritual as well as suffering through a vivid evocation of the poison moving in the mother’s blood.” In the first stanza of the poem the poet narrates himself in the person . He narrates that his mother was stung by a scorpion one rainy night . There has been continuous rain for house and during this time the scorpion had been concealed behind a sack of rice: I remember the night my mother, Was stung by a scorpion . Ten house Of steady rain had driven him poison in its tail. Flash of To crawl beneath a sack of rice.

But it came out into the rain once again to discharge the poison in its tail .Flash of diabolic tail in the dark room is a symbol of evil. The mother of course, specially in Indian homes, is the Grah Laxmi, the beloved of all, and all are curious to bring her quick relief .Their Neighbours peasants arrived there in large numbers and prayed for her .They reached there in ‘swami of flies,’ They were simple well versed people .They have faith in efficacy of prayer .This prayer can make the effect of poison ineffective: The peasant came like swarms of flies And buzzed the name of god a hundred times To paralyze the evil one With candles and with lanterns . Throwing giant scorpion shadows

They are praying for the health and well being of the mother They are praying for the health and well being of the mother .They sit around their mother, muttering their prayers, casting their spells with the peace of understanding .They have the wisdom how to exercise evil spirits and bring solace. Neighbours continuous to come in and rain also continues: 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.

The world of magic, superstition ,irrationality and blind faithis now placed with the world of science is presented by the sceptic, rationalistic father .He even pours a little paraffin upon the bitten toe and burns it to burn out the poison and the son watches the flame with interest .The father tries to tame the poison in his own scientific way. The neighbours are chanting their incantations: More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours. More insects ,and the endless rain, My mother twisted through and through. Groaming on a mat.

The poison has its effect for twenty hours The poison has its effect for twenty hours . The suffering mother is more concerned for her children and does not thing of her ownself or her own suffering .She is rather glad of the fact it was she who was the target of the evil one, and not any one of her children. My mother only said Thank god the scorpion picked on me And spared my children. In this way the self-effacing love of the Indian mother has been highlight .According to M.K.Nail, ”I would be more appropriate to characterize the basic theme of the poem as the mystery of evil and the enigma of the suffering attendant upon it.” This poem demonstrates an unusual depth of feeling, a remarkable economy of language and a rare imaginative insight.

Nissim Ezekiel’s poetic integrity and artistic craftsmanship are superb.There are forty-eight easy flowing lines out of which fifteen are regular tetrametres and seven are pentameters. The other remaining lines are free verse with occasional iambic meter. The musicality pf the poem is consistent. There is no ambiguity in the poem .The poem is abrupt and the tone is conversational and rhythm is colloquial. This poem is typically Indian in its theme. The language of the poem is adequate to the situation and it evokes the actual scene in the minds of the readers.

Paul verghese also comments,” The success of the poet lies in the careful variation of rhythm which helps him to achieve different effects. The rhythms of the speaking voice shift voice shift with the sense, in a manner usual in free verse.” Christopher wiseman also examined the versification of the poem in these words – “The poem demonstrates a deliberate attempt at fomal innovation by using a loose, seemingly free-verse narrative structure. It is much more relaxed and 0pen worked than Ezekiel’s formal poetry.”

Nissim Ezekiel has not only recorded the incident but allowed a little space between his views in the following lines. “On another occasion in mid-January ,1964 in Leeds, I had to read a few of my poems at a party . That morning, when I made the selection ,I was dissatisfied with it when I made the selection. …I remember the house where I was born then Suddenly I wrote “the night my Mother was stung by a scorpion.” End in as much time as it would Take to make a copy of the poem.”

Dr. Anupama Tewari satnam Irfan Submitted to Submitted by SAMSHER KHAN JITENDRA KUMAR SAMSHER KHAN Submitted by JITENDRA KUMAR PRATEEK BHATNAGAR Km. Anjali SAMSHER KHAN Satnam singh Irfan hussain ANJALI PRATEEK satnam Irfan