The Snake described in Theodore Roethke's poem connects to American Literature in the way that people see the literature and in the purpose behind the shifts in genres in the different time periods of American Literature. When people would first read the new literature in America and found it good, there was hype over the piece. The ideas in it and other similar pieces were taken from the ideas of the majority and influenced the thoughts and actions of the people reading it then as well. Then as time went on and ideas of the people started to change they didn't see the pieces of literature in the same way as they had previously. That's when the pieces become like the limp snake and the ideas fade so no one cares as much. Finally the ideas influence a whole new set of different literature with different ideas that over power and drive out the old ideas, much like the man watching the snake drove it away quickly.
Once these new ideas got a good foothold in the society they brought new signs of life and ingenuity and thoughts and innovations to the society and it gave people hope that things could change and get better, whatever better was according to their new thoughts.
The whole goal of American Literature is to find some pure and great form of literature that captures all the ideas of the majority of people in America, and the time period shifts show this in that the literature changes when the actions and ideas of the people do.
The snake picture is reminiscent of the booming and prosperous times of America, ones that occurred at least once in each time period of American Literature. The snake looks alive and brave and ready for the world, much like how the people felt in these times because everything was going great and their ideas were good ones. The snake represents America at its finest because it isn't limp or still it is lively and strong.
