In this stanza, the poet describes how a crocodile may enhance the physical appearance of its tail. The crocodile has come up out of the water and is sitting on the shore. It is evident on a sunny day, for the light of the sun to fall on the scales of the crocodile’s body is making them shine. However, the poet does not seem to be content with just the sunlight brightening up its appearance. He concludes that a certain amount of water poured on its scales would further beautify its appearance. As we know, the eyes of the crocodile are placed in a horizontal relation with its back. Therefore, when it secretes tears, the water from the tears can easily spread over its back.

This is exactly what the crocodile does. The crocodile’s tears are not only caused by emotional distress, as they are in the case of human beings. Hence, it is easy for the crocodile to secrete a large amount of teardrops and have them roll down the scales of its body, making them shine to a larger extent than they naturally would in the sunlight. The poet jokes that the crocodile secretes enough teardrops for them to seem like they equal all the water in the River Nile.

In this stanza, Alice describes what the crocodile does when it spots the fish in the water trying to swim near the shore. The crocodile seems to start grinning, as if it was welcoming its fellow creatures of the sea oftto land along with itself. The crocodile also spreads his claws out on the sand, as if to create space for the fish to move in. The last thing the crocodile does is to open its mouth wide, as if to utter a kindly word.

However, the fish are sorely mistaken if they interpret the crocodile’s actions in this way. In fact, all these actions on the crocodile’s part are designed to trick them and to trap them. When it opens its shining mouth, it infact gobbles up all the fish that come swimming up towards its body.

Message: The poem also draws our attention to the various people in the world, who outwardly seem friendly but wait for an opportunity to strike at innocent people who may be unaware of their real malicious intentions.

So the poet is warning us to be very careful while dealing with others and not get carried away by their sweet smile or attractive looks.