Summary

The words "stanza" and "couplet" are used interchangeably in this summary.

In the first two stanzas, the speaker describes her brother holding a snake the length of his body. The brother (who according to the title is named Cyrus) carefully holds the snake by its head. In the third couplet, the speaker states that she does not understand her brother's obsession with holding snakes. In stanzas four to six, the speaker describes the way snakes move and exist.

The speaker proceeds to recount a memory in the seventh couplet. When she and her brother were children, they removed a chicken egg from the family's backyard coop. Upon breaking it open, they killed the baby chick developing inside. The siblings' reactions differ in that the speaker cries a little while her brother pretends not to care. However, in the 13th stanza, the speaker reveals knowing...