"This is the dark intestine."

Hughes’ account of the Garden of Eden myth is exceedingly different from the version in the biblical Genesis. First, the speaker claims that the serpent did not convince Eve to eat the apple but it was Adam that actually ate it. Next, Eve ate Adam and then the serpent ate Eve. Lastly, the poem states that afterwards the serpent slept “his meal off in Paradise.”As we all obviously know none of this happened in the Bible.

I interpreted the “Dark intestine” as the author simply stating “this is the undeniable and dark truth” since he claims what we already know is “corruption of the facts.” I also view line 8 (“This is the dark intestine”) to be especially powerful in this poem because it makes the reader stop and think considering the previous 3 lines appear humorous and silly.

Also, I’m not sure if Hughes did this on purpose but I think it is interesting how he places this line in the middle of the poem and the human intestine is also in the middle of the body. Lastly, I think Hughes exploits the word “intestine” to have two meanings. Obviously he uses this specific word because so much “eating” is taking place in this poem and secondly when I see “intestine” I think of “in testament.”