Theology

It’s not a foregone conclusion that the fruit Eve eats is an apple. In the King James Version, the fruit remains unspecified; it could be an apple, but it could also be a peach, pear, or orange—all fruits that grow on trees. While the speaker addresses the “[c]orruption of the facts” (Line 4) when it comes to who consumes who and what, their story is suspect: It relies on the presumption that Eve ate an apple.

The inclusion of the apple lends irony. It lets the reader know that maybe the speaker’s story isn’t so true either. As Genesis 3:6 reads, Eve “took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” (“Genesis 3:6.” kingjamesbibleonline.org.)

God’s “querulous” (Line 12). The serpent’s consumption of Eve—and, via Eve, Adam and the apple—puts God in a bad mood. The serpent is relaxed and in a good place. He “[s]leeps his meal off in Paradise” (Line 10). The relationship between God and the serpent represents the strain between good and evil or God and the Devil. As the serpent occupies the Garden of Eden, it looks like he’s won.