GCSE English Paper 2 Revision (6)

Night Of The Scorpion

• What is the poem about?
• about the night the poet's mother was stung by a scorpion
• shows the contrast in people's reactions
• written in 1st person - autobiographical
• What do I need to know about the poet?
• Born in Bombay
• saw Hindu practices around him.
• they believed in cleansing the sin - this is what the mother tries to do in the poem, ready for when she is reincarnated.
• What poetic features are noteworthy?
• "rice" and "dark room" and "mud-baked walls" - shows it was in a poor part of India.
• "diabolic tail" - the scorpion represents the devil.
• "the peasants came like swarms of flies" - makes the villagers seem panicky and illogical.
• "they clicked their tongues" - they are not trying very hard to find the scorpion.
• "may" is repeated at the start of some of the lines - sounds like they are praying - makes it seem unthinking.
• "previous birth" and "next birth" - the peasants think she will be reincarnated. 
• "the peace of understanding…