Could you please tell me who/ what is the persona and who/what it is talking about?
I got the idea of a snake and a spider but the two together don't make much sense in the context.
I would really appreciate a fast rerply!
"Eve" - by James Lasdun
I like that room,
the warm one with the machines
where the woman folds her shed skins.
I hang in the broken ceiling, watching her,
barely distinguishable
from the cold water pipe
and the coiled power cable.
I watch her all winter:
her long-legged hands,
the glinting needles of fur at her nape,
her red warmness
drifting in mammaly billows.
And now I show myself;
pour my flickering head
into her sac of air,
and slowly, willed against her own will,
her face rises like a rising moon,
opening palely to mine,
and in the wide O's of her eyes,
I see myself: my head like a big cut jewel,
the little watch-jewels of my eyes, yes,
my tongue the alive nerve of a rock,
and I feel her want,
a yearning almost,
as though for something already about to be lost,
And I offer myself.
The allusion, of course, is to Eve in the garden of Eden and the snake.
The room the poem refers to is the laundry room... shed skins = cloths.
The "snake" of the Bible story has had many suggestions for meaning. I have always thought of it as "self knowledge", curiosity, learning. A possible interpretation might be that while the woman is doing her laundry ( which is a very boring task) she is day dreaming about potential, life, adventure.
In the poem "Eve" by James Lasdun, the persona is a snake. The snake is talking about its observations of a woman in a warm room with machines. The snake describes hanging from the broken ceiling, watching the woman as she folds her shed skins. The snake continues to watch her throughout the winter and describes various details about her appearance and movements.
Towards the end of the poem, the snake reveals that it decides to reveal itself to the woman. It describes pouring its flickering head into her sac of air, and as a result, the woman's face rises and opens palely to the snake's gaze. The snake sees itself reflected in the wide eyes of the woman and describes its own features, including its head like a big cut jewel and the watch-jewels of its eyes.
The poem ends with the snake feeling the woman's want and yearning, as though for something already about to be lost. The snake offers itself to her, leaving the reader to interpret the implications of this gesture.
To understand who/what the persona is and who/what it is talking about, one should carefully read the poem and analyze the descriptions and actions provided by the snake.