Hunting Snake

Writer: Judith Wright-She celebrated nature in many of her poems and in later life was a conservationist,

Summary: The author writers about her dangerous encounter with a snake as she and her companion were taking a stroll in the beutiful autumn weather. She is showing that nature should be respected but humans forget about the beauty of the natural world but beautiful experiences can be made,

Form: Consistent rhming scheme (ABAB) which is destroyed in the last stanza where the rhyming scheme is ABCA which could shock her shock upon realising the danger she was in after the incident and the fact that there was a perfect rhyming scheme could suggest she was telling herself to keep calm and only after did she allow herself to panic. There are four stanzas each with four lines and shows the writer doesnt let her composture slip and could show that nature is always there and regular and will never change and will always be beautiful,

Tone: Curious, frighened, tense, scared, worried, respect, admiration

Language and Imagery:

• 'We walked, and froze half-through a pace.'-Caesura to show a sudden stop in the reading pace of gthe reader to emphasize the poet freezing in the situation. It is used as a tool by the poet to create a deeper sense of empathy as the reader experiences something closer to the poet-There is no full stop before the caesura to emphaise the stop
• 'The great black snake went reeling by.'-The Poet reveals her fear as a ********* snake crossed their path. She uses the word 'great' which isn't used normally to describe a serpent and shows the snake is indifferent to their presence due to its movement,
• 'Head-down, tongue flickering on the trail/ he quested through the parting grass'- Ironic as it contrasts with the titile which suggests the serpent was not poised to attack the numans and didn't even obserbe them. She uses personfication to bring the environment alive as she describes the grass parting for the beautiful creature=beautiful imagery,
• 'sun glazed his curves of diamond scale'-Hyperbole as she relates the snake to a dragon as they are usually regarded with scales of diamond and they are majestic and magical creatures but is biased due to media which is the same for the snake, it is said it be deadly and dangerous but it hasnt attacked the poet,
• 'What small food fled living from his fierce intent.' Indicates power that the snake possesses which shows the snake rules over others-shows how skillful it is-reflects the title,

• 'We scarcely thought; still as we stood'-Caesura creates a stop to show the poet stopping to think and reflect the action like the pause suggests which emphasies the poet's movements,
• 'Our eyes went with him as he went' This indicate curiosity from the poet and to express onto the reader how little is known about this creature that is still remians so myterious and how we should learn and it shows caution at the eyes following him,
• 'Cold, dark and splendid'- Indicates how the snake brings its own special kind of beaity and how it is one only certain people really learn to appreciate. She could be saying she judged the snake wrong and that it is a creature of evil and that we should learn to appreciate it rather than hate it,
• 'and went on'-Last line to show the poet feels that humans should live in harmony with animals and watch and admire them- To have a peaceful co-existance with them,

Links: The Pike-Both poets describe the creatures as one of potent power, mystery and a form of beauty that only some can appreciate and 'The Cockroach' as they both reflect the author's reflections in the animal,