In “Snakes,” Zabolotsky suggests the lack of connection or understanding between humans and nature. First of all, it’s important to note that snakes tend to represent evil in literature; however, this poem depicts an image of several snakes simply sleeping among rocks, under the sun. Even when a “bird cries out above them, or a bug howls boldly past” the snakes do not respond, and carry on in their own, motionless worlds (“Snakes,” 9-10). (Note the atypical usage of animal noise words; crying birds and howling bugs seem to have a more grim connotation than the “singing” or “fluttering” birds depicted in many of the other pastoral poems we read for today.) There is a clear distinction in the different “characters” at play in the poem: the snakes, time, the philosopher, and possibly the “fellow men” (26). It seems that the characters, particularly the snakes, do not interact with the others. The snakes are physically separated from time that “drifts by upon the air” “above them” (16, 15). When the philosopher comes upon the snakes, he asks, “What is their origin, their purpose, can they be justified?” These philosophical questions seem theoretical (even lofty), and the poem reveals nothing about the snakes interacting back with the philosopher. Again, they seem to just exist in their own separate sphere.

The very last four lines are the most interesting of this poem. The philosopher departs, “avoiding his fellow men.” It is unclear whether these men are actually the snakes, or whether they are representing the rest of human society. The first possible interpretation (fellow men as snakes) would suggest that the snakes, characterized as “indigent… enigmatic… weighty images of sleep” are a class of people. The latter interpretation (fellow men as society) would suggest that perhaps the philosopher is trying his best to connect with the snakes, however nature only serves as an oppressor, “stand[ing] above him like a cell”, remaining a mystery to him (28). This last line also further points to the disconnect between nature and the philosopher, because nature still stands above him.

This poem distinguishes itself from most other poems from today’s theme, because I believe it depicts a more negative and complex relationship between man and nature. With more space, I would delve into the connection between this poem and Pasternak’s “The Steppe,” which also portrays some of the negative interpretations of nature, relative to human sin.