My father was Noonuccal man and kept old tribal way,
His totem was the Carpet Snake, whom none must ever slay;
But mother was of Peewee clan, and loudly she expressed
The daring view that carpet snakes were nothing but a pest.
Now one lived inside with us in full immunity,
For no one dared to interfere with father’s stern decree:
A mighty fellow ten feet long, and as we lay in bed
We kids could watch him round a beam not far above our head.
Only the dog was scared of him, we’d hear its whines and growls,
But mother fiercely hated him because he took her fowls.
You should have heard her diatribes that flowed in angry torrents,
With words you’d never see in print, except in D.H. Lawrence.
“I kill that robber,” she would scream, fierce as a spotted cat;
“You see that bulge inside of him? My speckly hen make that!”
But father’s loud and strict command made even mother quake;
I think he’d sooner kill a man than kill a carpet snake.
That reptile was a greedy guts, and as each bulge digested
He’d come down on the hunt at night, as appetite suggested.
We heard his stealthy slithering sound across the earthen floor,
While the dog gave a startled yelp and bolted out the door.
Then over in the chicken-yard hysterical fowls gave tongue,
Loud frantic squawks accompanied by the barking of the mung,
Until at last the racket passed, and then to solve the riddle,
Next morning he was back up there with a new bulge in his middle.
When father died we wailed and cried, our grief was deep and sore,
And strange to say from that sad day the snake was seen no more.
The wise old men explained to us: “It was his tribal brother,
And that is why it done a guy” – but some looked hard at mother.
She seemed to have a secret smile, her eyes were smug and wary,
She looked about as innocent as the cat that ate the pet canary.
We never knew, but anyhow (to end this tragic rhyme)
I think we all had snake for tea one day about that time.
"Reproduced with permission of John Wiley
and Sons, Australia".
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Deeper meaning
From guest Michele (contact)
With poetry one takes their own meaning from the words as they bring the story alive. To say that you take a tale of child abuse from the poem is ones own interpretation of the poem for ones self, however the true meaning of the poem remains in the author’s eyes. The poem for me is about the author’s connection to her parents and their totemic obligations and connections to their ancestral inheritance. In Australian Aboriginal culture in this instance the authors Noonuccal (Stradbroke Island) heritage from her parents who have inherited a scared totem of the carpet snake and Peewee bird. The knowledge of how to respect and honour these totems is what is being passed on to you in the words of the poetry. The mother apparently ate the fathers totem when he past, which is to say that while it may be her husbands totem, as you are not to marry someone with the same totem as you; it is ok to eat the totems of others and not your own. And in most cases children inherit their totem matrilineal; therefore it is ok for the children to eat their father’s totem. In short, through the authors childhood encounter with her father's totemic and scared carpet snake there is Australian Indigenous Law and totemic knowledge inscribed in the poetry that the author has cleverly handed on to the reader in a humours way. -
hidden meanings
From guest john (contact)
Even though this poem seems to have a simple nature, a recollection of childhood memories it actually has far darker themes of child abuse and incest. If you take the line "We kids could watch him round a beam not far above our head" and read in to it more deeply youi can begin to see the themes of child abuse. Also the 10 foot long carpet snake can be seen as the male member. The wife also kills the husband in order to stop him abusing the children. I dont know if this view is exactly right but we studdied this poem for GCSE and were taught both of its meanings. -
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Deeper Meaning
With poetry one takes their own meaning from the words as they bring the story alive. To say that you take a tale of child abuse from the poem is ones own interpretation of the poem for ones self, however the true meaning of the poem remains in the author’s eyes. The poem for me is about the author’s connection to her parents and their totemic obligations and connections to their ancestral inheritance. In Australian Aboriginal culture in this instance the authors Noonuccal (Stradbroke Island) heritage from her parents who have inherited a scared totem of the carpet snake and Peewee bird. The knowledge of how to respect and honour these totems is what is being passed on to you in the words of the poetry.
The mother apparently ate the fathers totem when he past, which is to say that while it may be her husbands totem, as you are not to marry someone with the same totem as you; it is ok to eat the totems of others and not your own. And in most cases children inherit their totem matrilineal; therefore it is ok for the children to eat their father’s totem.
In short, through the authors childhood encounter with her father's totemic and scared carpet snake there is Australian Indigenous Law and totemic knowledge inscribed in the poetry that the author has cleverly handed on to the reader in a humours way.
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To guest John
The carpet snake is a large Australian snake and as such would undoubtedly be used as a totem creature and therefore be as sacred as a Hindu's cow.
The mother only expresses a wish to kill a 10 foot snake, only natural. There is nothing to indicate her killing her husband.
As for other meanings well.. The American performer Melanie used to sing
a thing's a phallic symbol if its longer than it's wide.
so what does that say about all of us who take up the pen and write?
Don't read too much into these things.
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Hello
From guest Frel (contact)
I liked reading this poem, except i personally found that there was alot of secual references inside, unless its just my dirty mind...could be either -
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To guest Frel
Honi soit qui mal y pense
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The Carpet snake, as a totem of the Noonuccal tribe was looked upon as a sacred animal hence it's unfettered movements around the home. However, the wife was not of the same tribe and therefore her regard for the snake was in opposition to her husband. The rivalry must have gone on for years. when Father died, traditional dreamtime stories would have spoken about the snake going with his 'brother' but then again the Wife could have easily killed and cooked the snake for the family to eat. Remembering of course, that if a Peewee (bird) had moved into their home that too would have been treated like one of the family.
It's a rather funny story for me.
Von
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god almighty
does anyone know how i can analyse this?! -
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The poem seems a very obvious (and probably true) tale from the authors own experience. The snake was the totem of her father's family in real life (check the author's page). I would think that it would submit to analysis quite readily after a couple of readings.
Jim
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Help
Need help with Ballad of the Totems... Sorry not from an australian background.. seem to have alot of difficulty
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