“I came down the step with my pitcher
And must wait, must stand and wait, for there he
was at the trough before me.”
These lines from “Snakes” suggests that the
- snake was regal and that the persona must wait as a subject
- snake was venomous and therefore the poet has to be very wary
-
snake got there first, in the interest of justice, the poet should wait
- poet is terrified of the snake