Acknowledgeme

nt

The success of any project depends largely on the encouragement

and guidelines of many others. I would like to express my special
thanks of gratitude to my teacher, Dr. Mitima Sachdeva as well as
our head of institute Dr. Beermati Singh who gave me the golden
opportunity to do this wonderful project on the poem Night of
The Scorpion, by Nissem Ezekiel.
I would also like to thank my husband and friends who helped me
a lot in finishing this project .
THANKS AGAIN TO ALL WHO HELPED ME.

Night of the
scorpion

I remember the night my mother

was stung by a scorpion

i. Who is the poet?

______________________________
ii. Who is referred to as I in these
lines?
__________________________

Ten hours
of steady rain had driven him
to crawl beneath a sack of rice.
Parting with his poison flash
of diabolic tail in the dark room
he risked the rain again.

i.
ii.

Who is referred to as him? ______________________

Identify the alliteration
a)_______________________________________________________
b)
__________________________________________________________
iii. Describe the scene at the time the scorpion
stung the poets mother____________________________
__________________________________________________________

The peasants came like

swarms of flies
and buzzed the name of God a
hundred times to paralyse the
Evil One.

i.
ii.

iii.

iv.

What do these lines depict about the peasants reactions?

_____________
__________________________________________________________________
Why are the peasants compared to a swarm of flies?
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________
Identify the simile in the above lines ____________ and what does it suggest
about Ezekiel's attitude to the neighbours? ______________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Who is referred to as the Evil one ?? __________________________________

With candles and with lanterns

throwing giant scorpion shadows
on the mud-baked walls
they searched for him:
he was not found.
They clicked their tongues.
With every movement that the scorpion made
his poison moved in Mothers blood, they said.

i.
ii.

Who are they in these lines? _________________________________________

Who was being searched? _____________________________________________

iii. Describe the setting of the poem what type of country?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
iv. What do the farmers do to help the woman?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
v. Explain the line throwing giant scorpion shadows__________________________
______________ Who is the giant scorpion? _________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
vi. What is an onomatopoeia ? _______________________________________________________
Quote two examples from the poem a)____________________________________
b)____________________________________
vii.
Explain the superstition about the scorpions movements
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

May he sit still, they said.

May the sins of your previous birth
be burned away tonight, they said.
May your suffering decrease
the misfortunes of your next birth, they said.
May the sum of evil
balanced in this unreal world
against the sum of good
become distinguished by your pain.
May the poison purify your flesh
of desire, and your spirit of ambition,
they said, and they sat around
on the floor with my mother in the centre
the peace of understanding on each face.

More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours,

more insects, and the endless rain.
My mother twisted through and through,
groaning on a mat.

i.

Which phrase suggests the mother could be providing entertainment?

____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
ii. In the lines More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours, more insects
What does the repetition of more suggest? ____________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
iii. There is a contrast between the neighbours' 'peace of understanding' and
the mother who 'twisted ... groaning on a mat' . It is ironic that the
villagers are _______________(tensed/at peace) with the mothers
_______________(comfort/discomfort)
iv. What do you observe about the peasants mind set from these lines?
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________

My father, sceptic, rationalist,

trying every curse and blessing,
powder, mixture, herb and hybrid.
He even poured a little paraffin
upon the bitten toe and put a match to it.

i.
ii.

What do these lines tell about the fathers personality?? ____________

______________________________
How does the father react to the scorpions bite? ______________
______________________________

I watched the flame feeding on my mother.

I watched the holy man perform his rites
to tame the poison with an incantation.
After twenty hours
it lost its sting.

i.

Identify the poetic technique used

________________
Quote an example:
__________________________________
ii. Who else is feeding off the mother??
_______________ for what reasons?
a)________________________________
b)________________________________
iii. Who is I in these lines?? _____________
iv. Whom does it refer to?? ____________

My mother only said

Thank God the scorpion picked on me
and spared my children.

i)

By using _______________________________________ (indirect

speech/ direct speech Ezekiel shows his mothers
selflessness.

ii)

What assessment of the mothers character have you

made by reading the poem?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

iii) What was the mothers reaction to the scorpions bite?

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
iv) How does these reactions contrast with the reactions of
the mother?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

v)

Comment on the ending:

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

Poetic Techniques
Think about the poetic techniques discussed earlier. Find examples
in the poem and write down the effect created.

Technique

Evidence Effect

simile

like swarms
of flies

metaphor

Alliteration

onomatopoeia

Contrast
Many images of the scorpion contrast in the opening lines
of the poem.
Find examples of each and add them to the columns below.

Timid

Dangerous

What Happens?
There are three main parts to the poem. Do you know what
they are? The first one has been done for you

Lines

What is happening?

1-7

The scorpion comes into the home

to escape the rain and stings the
poets mother

8 - 33
34 - 48