Night of the Scorpion

By popular request, here is a detailed analysis of "Night of teh Scorpion". Please let me know if you have any questions.

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“Night of the Scorpion” is a poem which discusses the inherent differences between some traditional cultures and the modern world, and the conflict inherent in this.

The poem opens in with a clear, first person statement: “I remember the night my mother/was stung by a scorpion.” This emotionless opening immediately creates the impression that the persona is reliable and honest and imbues the events which follow with a sense of factual reality. Given the poets’ criticism of the superstitions and eccentricities of the villagers who represent his original culture, this factual and scientific tone is particularly significant however it does not last past the opening couple of sentences. In his description of the scorpion, Ezekiel’s use of language becomes far stronger:
“Parting with his poison- flash
of diabolic tail in the dark room-“
Note the aggressive alliteration of “Parting “ and “poison”; the use of the word “flash” which uses lightning as a metaphor for the scorpion’s sting; the personification of the scorpion as the devil (“diabolic”) and the disturbing enjambment between the lines. All of this combines to emphasise the evil intent behind the scorpion’s actions: Ezekiel leaves us in no doubt at all that the scorpion intended to cause pain and was not simply acting instinctively. This is significant as it is a similar attitude to that which is held by the “peasants” who the poet is so critical of: at the heart of their superstition is the belief that the scorpion was acting on behalf of the devil, something which both poet and his mother seem to discount.

The simile which the poet uses to describe the villagers is clearly deeply critical:
“The peasants came like swarms of flies
and buzzed the name of God a hundred times”
This anthropomorphism dehumanises the villagers, making them sound ignorant and foolish. This is further emphasised by the onomatopoeic “buzzed” which makes their prayers sound mindless and shallow. This critical tone continues through the lines which follow, note the repetition of “they said” from lines 17-22 as the peasants outline their theological belief. This technique clearly undermines the reader’s trust in their views and demonstrates the poet’s cynicism at their culture. This culminates in the smug corruption of the traditional Christian blessing in line 31:
“The peace of understanding on each face.”

Towards the end of the first stanza, the reader sees the love which holds a family together and the desperation this causes when someone is in pain, as represented by the father trying “every curse and blessing” to ease his wife’s suffering.

The second, and final, stanza represents a return to the rationalism of the opening. Where the villagers and the father have been overcome by religious fervour in trying to ease the pain of the sting, the mother demonstrates a more existentialist attitude in her final statement:
“My mother only said
thank God the scorpion picked on me
and spared my children.”
There is a clear link to “Blessing” in this final quotation as it represents a character (or indeed culture) whose religious ardour is based on gratitude for the small things in life. There are many other clear links between these two poems: both poems show a people who see an event as coming from God (however one event is positive and the other negative). They are also both rich in imagery and describe simplistic, even primitive cultures.

In terms of other comparisons you can make with “Night of the Scoprion”, this can be quite tricky as it has little in common with many of the poems but for the fact that it describes a culture and its beliefs in detail: the only difference is that, where most poems are very proud and fond of their original culture, here, Ezekiel seems deeply critical of it. You could therefore maybe compare the way island man longs for his original culture with the way in which the speaker in “NOS” resents his. You could also compare the pride in original culture in poems such as “Limbo” or “WWTL” with the way in which Ezekiel seems to want to distance himself from it.