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    Hunting Snake

    Uploaded by

    Tanya Maheshwari
    The poem describes an encounter with a large black snake while out for a walk one autumn day. The speaker and others come across the snake as it moves quickly through the grass, hunting for prey. They freeze in place, in awe and fear of the powerful creature. The snake's scales glitter in the sun as it moves with intent. Though frightened of its predatorial nature, the observers are also transfixed by the snake's splendor and strength. After it passes and disappears into the grass, the onlookers take a breath and continue their walk, impacted by the experience.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Hunting Snake

    Uploaded by

    Tanya Maheshwari
    114 views13 pages
    The poem describes an encounter with a large black snake while out for a walk one autumn day. The speaker and others come across the snake as it moves quickly through the grass, hunting for prey. They freeze in place, in awe and fear of the powerful creature. The snake's scales glitter in the sun as it moves with intent. Though frightened of its predatorial nature, the observers are also transfixed by the snake's splendor and strength. After it passes and disappears into the grass, the onlookers take a breath and continue their walk, impacted by the experience.

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    © © All Rights Reserved

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    PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

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    The poem describes an encounter with a large black snake while out for a walk one autumn day. The speaker and others come across the snake as it moves quickly through the grass, hunting for prey. They freeze in place, in awe and fear of the powerful creature. The snake's scales glitter in the sun as it moves with intent. Though frightened of its predatorial nature, the observers are also transfixed by the snake's splendor and strength. After it passes and disappears into the grass, the onlookers take a breath and continue their walk, impacted by the experience.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    114 views13 pages

    Hunting Snake

    Uploaded by

    Tanya Maheshwari
    The poem describes an encounter with a large black snake while out for a walk one autumn day. The speaker and others come across the snake as it moves quickly through the grass, hunting for prey. They freeze in place, in awe and fear of the powerful creature. The snake's scales glitter in the sun as it moves with intent. Though frightened of its predatorial nature, the observers are also transfixed by the snake's splendor and strength. After it passes and disappears into the grass, the onlookers take a breath and continue their walk, impacted by the experience.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 13

    Hunting Snake

    By Judith Wright
    LEARNING
    OBJECTIVES
    TO COMPREHEND THE POEM
    TO ANALYSE THE POEM
    HOW WOULD YOU
    FEEL IF
    CONFRONTED BY
    A SNAKE?
    HOW MANY OF
    YOU HAVE COME
    ACROSS A SNAKE?
    About the poet: Judith Wright
    Judith Wright was an Australian poet, but she also dabbled in
    environmentalism and her work became famous because of the
    way she explored the relationship between mankind and the
    natural world. She wrote this poem in 1955.

    She wanted to glorify nature and help us understand that the


    main feeling she has towards this snake is one of awe and
    wonder. 
    Hunting Snake
    Sun-warmed in this late season’s grace
    under the autumn’s gentlest sky
    we walked, and froze half-through a pace.
    The great black snake went reeling by.

    Head-down, tongue flickering on the trail


    he quested through the parting grass;
    sun glazed his curves of diamond scale,
    and we lost breath to watch him pass.

    What track he followed, what small food


    fled living from his fierce intent,
    we scarcely thought; still as we stood
    our eyes went with him as he went.

    Cold, dark and splendid he was gone


    into the grass that hid his prey.
    We took a deeper breath of day,
    looked at each other, and went on.
    Hunting Snake The Overall Idea of the Poem
    For anybody who hadn't realised what the poem
    was about, it is about a group of people walking in
    the nice Autumn weather, when they see a big
    black snake.
    They then describe how scared of the snake they
    are, and how it follows its prey. Then it goes, and
    they describe the normal day again.
    A picture of harmony and calm

    ◦ sets the weather as beautiful


    Sun-warmed in this late season’s grace
    ◦ gives a harmonious feeling
    ◦ suggest a calm and delicate atmosphere
    under the autumn’s gentlest sky ◦ reinforces the idea of surprise, they did not have time to
    think or finish their action they were stopped in the
    middle of it. The fact this snake justifies stopping their
    walk shows it is potentially dangerous.
    we walked, and froze half-through a pace.
    ◦ something dark and menacing
    ◦ contrasts with the use of the adjective “great” which is a
    The great black snake went reeling by. strongly positive word. This represents the mix of fear
    and awe the watchers have.
    ◦ an idea that the snake moves very rapidly.
    shows the beauty and strength of the snake 

    ◦ snake is here linked to a knight gone on an adventure. This


    Head-down, tongue flickering on the comparison brings up a mixed image, on one side a knight
    trail is a brave soldier fighting for his king, he is a hero. On the
    other he is a violent person that kills many people and can
    be perceived as ruthless. Once again, the author shows the
    mixed feelings she has about the snake, it is a powerful
    he quested through the parting grass; creature that is both to be feared and admired. It
    also suggests that the snake is on a mission to get his food.
    ◦ The grass to is giving way in reverence
    sun glazed his curves of diamond scale, ◦ suggests a natural beauty and sense of power of the snake
    ◦ snake causes them to stop breathing, due to their fear or
    their awe? This question is left unanswered. The world
    and we lost breath to watch him pass. stops as it passes, time is lost, only the snake is moving.
    reveals the power of the snake and describes it as a predator.

    ◦ The snakes causes fear and everyone runs away from him,
    What track he followed, what small afraid they may be eaten.
    food ◦ revealed as a true predator, not the time for awe anymore, it is
    the time for fear. instead of saying the snake’s intent is to kill,
    she says “fierce intent”. This makes our image of the snake less
    savage, it just shows its power, instead of depicting it as a
    fled living from his fierce intent, monster.
    ◦ She has trouble expressing herself at this point. They did not
    even have time to think, they were mesmerised by the snake
    we scarcely thought; still as we stood watching his every move.

    ◦ They are awed and cannot take their eyes off this snake they
    our eyes went with him as he went. cannot move until it leaves, they are powerless facing the snake.
    reveals the power of the snake and describes it as a predator.

    Cold, dark and splendid he was gone ◦ Describing the snake, words causing fear and
    awe. (two negatives and a positive together)

    into the grass that hid his prey. ◦ he is clearly revealed a predator
    ◦ calm atmosphere returning.
    We took a deeper breath of day, ◦ the snake has gone, they can now move, their life
    continues.

    looked at each other, and went on.


    Devices
       Sun-warmed in this late season’s grace
    under the autumn’s gentlest sky ◦ Personification- Creating the warm and pleasant
    setting of a dignified and loving season
    we walked, and froze half-through a pace  .
    The great black snake went reeling by. ◦ The use of the caesura is to create a sudden stop in the
    reading pace of the reader to emphasize on how
    Head-down, tongue flickering on the trail similarly the reader stop reading for a moment, the
    he quested through the parting grass; poet freezes when put in the situation described. This is
    sun glazed his curves of diamond scale, used as a tool by the poet to create a deeper sense of
    and we lost breath to watch him pass. empathy as the reader experiences something closer to
    the poet at that point described in the poem.
    What track he followed, what small food
    ◦ Juxtaposition indicates how the snake brings about its
    fled living from his fierce intent,
    we scarcely thought; still as we stood own special kind of beauty -instilling fear and awe
    our eyes went with him as he went. together

    Cold, dark and splendid he was gone


    into the grass that hid his prey.
    We took a deeper breath of day,
    looked at each other, and went on.
    Answer the following questions
    1. Explain with the help of two examples from
    the poem to show that the poet has mixed
    feelings about the snake.
    2. How has the poet used the rhyme scheme in
    the poem to convey her feelings?
    3. Describe the setting of the poem.
    Hunting Snake

    Thank you

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