Based on your reading of the poem, answer the following questions by ticking the correct options:
1. 'he lifted his head from his drinking as cattle do' - The poet wants to convey that the snake
is domesticated
is innocent
is as harmless as cattle
drinks water just like cattle
2. 'Sicilian July', 'Etna smoking' and 'burning bowels of the earth' are images that convey that
there are snakes in volcanic areas
the poet lived in a hot area
it was a really hot day when the snake came
Sicilian snakes are dangerous
3. 'A sort of horror , a sort of protest overcame me' - The poet is filled with protest because
he doesn't want to let the snake remain alive
he fears the snake
he doesn't want the snake to recede into darkness
he wants to kill it so that it doesn't return
4. In the line 'And as he slowly drew up, snake-easing his shoulders, and entered farther' the phrase snake easing' his shoulders means
loosening its shoulders
slipping in with majestic grace
moving slowly
moving fast
5. 'He seemed to me like a king in exile…' The poet refers to the snake as such to emphasize that the snake
is like a king enduring banishment
Is like a king due to be crowned
Is a majestic king who came for a while on earth
is a majestic creature forced to go into exile by man
6. 'I thought how paltry, how vulgar, what a mean act' -The poet is referring to
the snake going into the dreadful hole
the accursed modern education
the act of throwing a log of wood at the snake
the act of killing the snake
1. (d) drinks water just like cattle
2. (c) it was a really hot day when the snake came
3. (c) he doesn't want the snake to recede into darkness
4. (b) slipping in with majestic grace
5. (d) is a majestic creature forced to go into exile by man
6. (c) the act of throwing a log of wood at the snake