Meaning & Analysis
To provide warmth and care to a venomous snake by holding it to one's chest, an act of foolish kindness that invites a deadly attack.
Insights
Betrayal and Ingratitude
The proverb is a powerful metaphor for betrayal by someone you have helped or trusted. It warns that showing kindness to an inherently malicious or ungrateful person will ultimately result in your own harm.
Hidden Dangers of Character
It illustrates the danger of misjudging character. An individual may appear harmless or pitiable (like a 'frozen snake'), but this can mask a treacherous nature that will emerge once they are empowered by your help.
Consequences of Naivety
The act of 'nourishing' the viper implies a degree of naive complicity. It serves as a caution against allowing pity or affection to blind you to evident risks, suggesting that the resulting harm is a direct consequence of poor judgment.
Classical and Renaissance Roots
Originating from Aesop's fables and popularized by Erasmus, this proverb was a cornerstone of Renaissance moral teaching, frequently used by Shakespeare and his contemporaries to dramatize the catastrophic consequences of misplaced trust and ingratitude.
Psychology of Misplaced Trust
The proverb powerfully illustrates a key psychological vulnerability: the tendency for compassion or pity to override rational judgment. The 'bosom' represents the intimate, vulnerable self, and nurturing a 'viper' within it is a metaphor for willfully ignoring warning signs due to emotional attachment.
Archetypal Symbolism
In Western traditions, the serpent is an archetypal symbol of deceit and treachery, tracing back to the Garden of Eden. The proverb leverages this deep cultural resonance to create a universally understood warning against hidden evil.
The Paradox of Kindness
The act of kindness (warming the snake) directly enables the subsequent betrayal (the sting). This highlights a tragic paradox where benevolent actions can inadvertently empower those who mean to do us harm, serving as a bitter lesson in caution.
Rhetorical Devices
Symbolism
The 'viper' is a potent symbol for deceit and treachery, while the 'bosom' symbolizes intimate trust and vulnerability. Their combination creates a vivid and instantly understood scenario of betrayal.
Visceral Imagery
The physical image of holding a deadly snake to one's chest is visceral and shocking, creating a memorable and emotionally charged warning against misplaced trust.
Irony
A deep situational irony defines the proverb: the act of nurturing and providing life-saving warmth becomes the very cause of one's own destruction.
Transcription
Quotations
Colubrum in sinu fovere . . i.e. Serpentem in sinu fovere, dicitur, qui complectitur amore, studioque prosequitur hominem ingratum.
How say ye to these vipers haue I brought them vp to this end.
Colubrum in sinu fouere. A Prouerbe applied to those which foster and cherishe an vngratefull and thankelesse person: who will breake out in the ende as a snake in a mans bosome.
O serpent, that came creeping from the shore, And I for pity harbour'd in my bosom, Wilt thou now slay me?
Now hee playeth lyke the frozen snake, who beinge for Compassion releiued by the husbandman, soone after he was warme began to hisse, and threaten danger even to him and his.
The frozen Snake, which with our heat once warmd, Will sting vs to the heart in recompence.
That I may clear my bosom of the snake I cherish'd there.
To bring up a Snake in ones bosome, viz. to entertain one, thinking him to be a Friend, who afterwards proves a mortall Enemy.
To nourish a viper in ones bosome; keep a snake in ones breast.
Put a Snake in your Bosom, and it will sting when it is warm.
Shakespeare Citations
I fear me you but warm the starved snake, Who, cherish'd in your breasts, will sting your hearts.
Snakes in my heart-blood warm'd that sting my heart!
Forget to pity him, lest thy pity prove A serpent that will sting thee to the heart.
Where is this viper That would depopulate the city and Be every man himself?
Cross References
- See St., no. 50.
- C846 Breed up a crow and she will peck out your eyes.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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