How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet, to drink at my water- trough And depart peacefully, pacified, and thankless,

Question

Read the given extract and answer the questions that follow:

How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet, to drink at my water- trough

And depart peacefully, pacified, and thankless, 

Into the burning bowels of this earth ?

(a) Who is the guest here ?

(b) He would depart thanklessly because…. 

(c) Explain ‘burning bowels’.

(d) Give the antonym of ‘depart’

Answer 1

(a) The guest is the snake.

(b) There is no need for him to thank the poet as the water is a natural resource and he has as much right to it as the poet.

(c) The snake’s hole, very very hot, like Etna burning, deep inside.

(d) Arrive.