"I remember the night my mother was stung by a scorpion.
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.
The peasants came like swarms of flies and buzzed the Name of God a hundred times to paralyse the Evil One.
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. With every movement the scorpion made his poison moved in Mother's blood, they said.
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 diminished 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.
My father, sceptic, rationalist, trying every curse and blessing, powder, mixture, herb, and hybrid. He even poured a little paraffin upon the bitten toes and put a match to it.
I watched the flame feeding on my mother.
I watched the holy man perform his rites to tame the poison with incantation.
After twenty hours it lost its sting."
"My mother only said:
Thank God the scorpion picked on me and spared my children."
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Comments
1 - 8 of 8
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MIND REFRESHING
From guest sumedha (contact)
It shows the superstitious belive of the people living in villages in eatly life... -
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good poem
From guest Daniel Johmston (contact)
this poem is a good poen im iam studing it for my gcses -
correction
From guest Gandu das (contact)
mother chod historical background ,yur father in law will write?????????????????// -
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thought provoking
From guest neethu joseph (contact)
Shows the heart of a mother, usally unseen by us. -
From guest abcd (contact)
love this poem man..its so freaking true...it depicts a true village scene in india...<3...everyone should read this poem..its a must read.!..!..! -
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This poem
From guest Dr HR Srinatha (contact)
Night of the scorpion is not about the scorpion at all; the scorpion stings mother and vanishes into to the rain filled night and never appears again. It is about people around her,and their reaction to mother's pain. The peasants have only group identity and only the opinion of that group about various issues affecting them. Their belief that the movement of the scorpion controls the movement of the poison in mother, their belief in the Hindu theory of re-incornation, their belief in Shankara's theory of Maya, their belief in Buddhism about desire as the cause of sorrow and finally their resignation at their helplessness - all these are brought home in very beautiful lines. But surely the unread peasants are unlikely to have such a broad spectrum of opinions. These are poet's opinions foisted on the peasants. Similarly, the skeptic and rationalist father in his helplessness to help the mother writhing in pain turns to all things around him for cure including lighting a match on the bitten toe of the mother. But the noblest part of the poem are contained in the last lines where the mother thanks God that the scorpion picked on her and spared her children - a nobility only a mother the world over could display. -
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nice poem
From guest radha krishna dwivedo (contact)
i am radha krishna dwivedi . i change my throught change after reading ur poem . i love my mother and motherland. -
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Beautiful!!!
From guest Priyanka Thatoi (contact)
A rationally evoking story, which amplifies the tenderness of mother hood...I simply love it!!! -
The final line is utterly breathtaking!
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translatin
From guest Joel (contact)
I read the research team's comment about lines missing due to translation. Nissim Ezekiel, an Indian poet, wrote in English and The Night of the Scorpion is not a translation. This is one of his most loved poems. He also wrote some poems in what he called Indian English, where he used delightfully quaint Indian usages to gently mock society and its elitist mores. -
lines missing
From guest Emma (contact)
I have read another copy of the poem somewhere on the net and a couple of lines are missing on the copy attached to this site. The missing lines go after 'May he sit still, they said.' These missing lines are crucial to the understanding of the poem (specially if one is doing his/her GCSE) as it depicts the Indian's belief in reincarnation. -
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To guest Emma
Many thanks for alerting us to this problem.
Alas when one uses translations, and even more so when one uses the internet as source, errors are likely to creep in.
I too have found some additional words and, as they appear to fit, they have been included.
They were
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.
I would like to be absolutely sure they were actually written by Nissim Ezekiel but until I read his words for myself I will have to stick to 95% certain.
Jim
Oldpoetry Research Team
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Can you explain this line?
From guest Pavan (contact)
I was not able to understand- "The peace of understanding on each face." -
Actually Good?
From guest Victoria (contact)
Personally I think this poem has been highly over-rated, the structure (which has not been properly shown in this version) serves no actual purpose and I found the poem as a whole to be frustratingly bland. Maybe it is just the style of modern poetry that disappoints me, or simply the fact this particular poem is riddled with contempt. The date given for its composition is obviously incorrect. I think I will stick to Christina Rossetti. -
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To Guest Victoria
I cannot agree with most of your comment but that is just my own opinion. However I do agree about the date of writing (it was actually the date it was added to the site) and I have corrected that. Thanks for letting me know of the error.
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how many scorpions arehtere in the poem
From guest Aashish Pande (contact)
One of my professors asks this question. How many scorpions are there in the poem -
heart touching
From guest aneeta (contact)
really,a nice poem.maternal love is expressed beautifully. -
From guest Priyanka Thatoi (contact)
A poem that raises your eyebrows..trying to discover some remote vo-doo at the end or a child`s ordeal through his mother`s pain,but all it sums at is may be the medications are different for the remote and the urban..But the feelings of a mother always remain the same.Awesome!!thats all I explain this poem as. -
The poem is Good
This poem reflects Ezekiel's uneasy pasts with the Indian people. Ezekiel has fully expressed his dislike towards the backward and superstitous nature of the Indians. -
this is the first poem int he text...but, I don't think I will appreciate it. Things could go much better and influencing if there would have been a little more poetry here. But, yes, the last line is really good, it symbolises the heart of an Indian mother
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thnak you for helping us, your a star!
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One can see the communal unity in this time of crisis in the poem. Weather she lived or not, really is not that important, but the way the community pulled together.
Very well told! -
i think its great
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