Narrator, “Submergence”
The narrator of this poem finds immense comfort in the submerging nature of humanity. As he is walking down a busy city street, he is overwhelmed by the comfort of being surrounded by busy humans on all sides. The narrator finds solace in their constant presence and all of the people around him help him to momentarily forget his grief and worries. In this way, it is clear that the narrator craves human connection and enjoys being submerged in a wave of humanity.
The Crowd, “Submergence”
Though the narrator does not interact with or explicitly describe any one member of the crowd that surrounds him in the busy city, the crowd is representative of the ever-moving, ever-present masses of people that can be found in any given city. Much like a wave, they envelop the streets and devour anything in its way. It is this sense of submergence that provides the narrator a great sense of comfort and relief.
Narrator, “Snake”
The narrator of this poem represents the selfish tendencies of human nature. Though the narrator understands that it is unlikely that the snake will harm him, he still tosses a stick towards it once it is slithering away to safety. The narrator harms the snake while its back is turned, after the snake had trusted the narrator for sharing his water. In this way, the narrator represents one of the darker aspects of human nature—our tendency to turn on people once their backs are to us.
Snake, “Snake”
The snake serves as a powerful symbol in this poem. It could be argued that the snake represents all underrepresented and/or minority groups of people. Though the snake has done nothing to indicate to the narrator that it is aggressive or dangerous, the narrator still throws a stick at it once its back is turned. This is very similar to humans, who will often make assumptions about people based upon their dress or color of skin and will then do harm to those people once their backs are turned. In this way, the snake represents groups of people who are inaccurately judged based upon stereotypes and punished for no reason.
Narrator, “Tease”
The narrator of this poem is intentionally cruel and perfectly captures our tendency to abuse power. The narrator tells his lover that he may be privy to secrets about her and then refuses to divulge this information. In this way, the narrator is abusing his power by blackmailing the young woman. Sadly, this can be an accurate representation of humanity and our inclination to grasp onto any small hints of power and abuse it to our advantage.
The Lover, “Tease”
The woman in this poem is the target of the narrator’s blackmail and teases. It is clear that she believes the narrator does have information about her that could be damaging or embarrassing, if it were to be shared publicly. The lover is clearly distraught by the narrator’s treatment of her. She is the victim of a controlling relationship and will never be able to re-gain the power that the narrator has exerted over her.
