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Introduction, In the poem, the poet says that the snake tries to escape from being hit by the stick held by a, person who is trying to kill it. The poet wants to say that all snakes are not harmful. Humans, have a notion that snakes are dangerous and try to kill them as soon as they spot one but this is, not true. He tells us how a harmless green - coloured snake tries to hide behind the green, bushes in order to save itself., , Poem and Explanation, 1.The snake trying, to escape the pursuing stick,, with sudden curvings of thin, long body. How beautiful, and graceful are his shapes!, Pursuing: Chasing, following, Curvings: Twisting, Paraphrase, The snake tries to escape from being hit by the stick that is following it. As the snake crawls, its, body twists and turns forming fascinating shapes., 2.He glides through the water away, from the stroke. O let him go, over the water, into the reeds to hide, without hurt. Small and green, he is harmless even to children., Glides: Moves, Stroke: Hitting of the stick, Reeds: Water or marsh plants with thick stems, Paraphrase, The snake moves through the water in order to save itself. The poet pleads to let it escape and, hide behind the thick marshy plants as it is harmless. The small green - coloured snake is, harmless even to children., , 3.Along the sand, he lay until observed

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and chased away, and now, he vanishes in the ripples, among the green slim reeds., Vanishes: Disappears, Paraphrase, Till it was spotted and chased away by the person holding a stick, it lay quietly in the sand. In, order to save itself, the snake disappears in the ripples of the water and hides in the, camouflaging green bushes of the marshy plants., , Literary devices, 1. Rhyme scheme is absent. The poem is written in free verse., 2. Transferred epithet: the adjective used with a noun refers to a noun other than the one with, which it is used., Pursuing stick - pursuing refers to the person who is holding the stick and not the stick itself., 3. Alliteration: the repetition of a consonant sound in 2 or more consecutive words., He is harmless - ‘h’, , The Snake Trying, Summary, In this poem, a harmless green - coloured snake tries to save itself from being hit by a person, who is chasing it with a stick to kill it. The poet says that the snake is harmless even to children., People fear snakes and when they see one, they try to kill it with a stick. The snake tries to save, itself and hides behind the green - coloured bushes of marshy plants growing in the water. It, hides in the ripples of the water body in order to save itself. The snake disappears behind the, marshy plants.