1. The crocodile - poem

 

 

Crocodiles are seen in parts of Africa, as mentioned above. The famous river Nile is home to many beastly crocodiles in Africa. The poem mentions the river Nile, and hence could be set in the Nile background.

 

The poet describes a small crocodile. He wonders how does (doth was traditionally used for "does") the crocodile makes its tail look better by pouring water from the River Nile on its scales that makes it looks shining like gold. The poet says that the crocodile's scaly tail is shining, and each scale looks like a golden scale. The crocodile seems to smile with its wide jaws and looks very happy and excited. Why is it happy? Because it is about to catch a fish. The crocodile has neatly spread its claws (a sharp curved nail on each foot). Its jaws (teeth) looks like its smiling, but it is making a hunt for the fish. The fish does not know the trap set by the crocodile, it sees the shining tail, golden scales, smiling teeth only! The crocodile lets the fishes happily in its mouth and eats them.  

 

The poet tries to bring about the meaning that all that glitters are not gold. We should not judge by outside appearances. We should always be careful about our enemies. We should see the motive behind every action. The crocodile tricks the fishes by showing itself as friendly by smiling, spreading his claws neatly, showing off his shining body etc. But inside it has dangerous motives of eating up the fishes. Similarly, we should not get  into the traps set by others.