Night of the Scorpion - Poetic Reflections on a Mother's Sting
The poem "Night of the Scorpion" by Nissim Ezekiel recounts the night when the poet's mother was stung by a scorpion during a storm. The villagers gather, invoking religious prayers and rituals to help alleviate her pain. The poem delves into themes of suffering, faith, and human response to adversity in the face of superstition and hope. Through vivid imagery and cultural allusions, Ezekiel weaves a poignant narrative of familial love and community support in times of crisis.
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Night of the Scorpion by Nissim Ezekiel Presented by Dr. Vishnu W. Patil Assistant Professor Department of English Deogiri College, Aurangabad 1
Night of the Scorpion by Nissim Ezekiel 2
Night of the Scorpion 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 of diabolic tail in the dark room he risked the rain again. 5
Night of the Scorpion 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 mud baked walls 6
Night of the Scorpion they searched for him: he was not found. They clicked their tongues. With every movement that the scorpion made his poison moved in Mother's blood, they said. May he sit still, they said. 7
Night of the Scorpion May the sins of your previous birth be burned away tonight, May your suffering decrease the misfortunes of your next birth, they said. May the sum of all evil balanced in this unreal world against the sum of good become diminished by your pain. 8
Night of the Scorpion May the poison purify your flesh of desire, and your spirit they said, and they sat around on the floor with my mother in the centre, the peace of understanding on each face 9
Night of the Scorpion More candles, more lanterns, more neighbors, 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. 10
Night of the Scorpion He even poured a little paraffin upon the bitten toe and put a match to it. I watched the flame feeding on my mother. I watched the holy man to tame the poison with an incantation. After twenty hours it lost its sting. 11
Night of the Scorpion My mother only said Thank God the scorpion picked on me and spared my children 12
Thank You for your patient listening !
