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The Killer


The day was clear as fire,
the birds sang frail as glass,
when thirsty I came to the creek
and fell by its side in the grass.

My breast on the bright moss
and shower-embroidered weeks,
my lips to the live water
I saw him turn in the reeds.

Black horror sprang from the dark
in a violent birth,
and through its cloth of grass
I felt the clutch of earth.

O beat him into the ground.
O strike him till he dies-
or else your life itself
drains through those colourless eyes.

I struck again and again
Slender in black and red
he lies, and his icy glance
turns outward clear and dead.

But nimble my enemy
as water is, or wind.
He has slipped from his death aside
and vanished into my mind

He has vanished whence he came,
my nimble enemy;
and the ants come out to the snake
and drink at his shallow eye.

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Comments


  • October 28
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    English assignment

    From guest Sharnee (contact)
    hey i dont really quite understand this peom but it is the best by far,, well thats my view thank you


  • September 2
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    English assignment

    From guest Samial (contact)
    i am doing a written response about this poem "killer," Can i might say this a very good poem. It has sorrow and passion in the same time. Thank You


  • April 25
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    the clutch of earth

    From guest Selena Gomez (contact)
    felt the clutch of the earth From guest angel hello im a big fan of all your poems but in this poem i fail to understand "i felt the clutch of earth" what does this mean? thank you


  • December 8, 2008
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    Chinneth

    From guest K (contact)
    I wish I could write verse like this. Long live meter and verse


  • rufina caraid Moderators member
    November 11, 2008

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    for Mimi

    I felt the clutch of earth - thought I was going to die -
    the birds sang frail as glass - my interpretation is: the air is so clear and quiet is all around, the sound of a bird sounds like a tinkling glass -
    The day was clear as fire - this line puzzles me a little: i think it may be the hot air is giving a smeared effect to the eye, looking outward over the hot earth is distorting the view, I may be wrong but that's how I see this.
    Hope that helps a little. Von ~ Oldpoetry


  • November 11, 2008
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    Confused

    From guest Mimi (contact)
    Ohi I'm kinda confused how it says "the clutch of earth" and also "The day was clear as fire, the birds sang frail as glass..." Err, me no understand. But I hope someone out there could help ^^


  • August 31, 2008
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    school project

    From guest Courtney (contact)
    I was just wondering what language is used in this poem, and whether it is appropriate for the theme and what effect this language had on the poem?


  • July 15, 2008
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    i felt the clutch of the earth

    From guest dylan (contact)
    hello im a big fan of all your poems but in this poem i fail to understand "i felt the clutch of earth" what does this mean?
    thank you

    (Try reading some of the other comments on this poem and its imagery MOD)


  • July 3, 2008
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    hi

    From guest katya (contact)
    i used this poem for a school debate/report on"the study of poetry gives students the opportunity to develop creative writing skills i commented on similes and metaphors it was a great poem to use :)


  • May 18, 2008
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    cool

    From guest hdbghbgf (contact)
    i really like its so... so...


  • February 8, 2008
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    ....

    From guest jon (contact)
    hey... i was wondering if i could use this poem for my school report? Jon


    • I-Like-Rhymes Moderators member
      February 9, 2008
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      To Guest Jon and anyone else interested.
      As far as we can tell all the work here is public domain so feel free to use it in your reports and recitations. Just remember to tell folks where you found it so they can come along and read the good stuff too!


  • November 29, 2007
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    Alpha Male

    From guest Aplha Male (year 13 Kamo High Student) NZ (contact)
    i love the way you have used certain language features to tie into your theme of the ol' pun "Kill or be killed". In the text you have used a nice personification "...clutch of earth". The use of this language feature creates a visual effect as well as emotional. Using 'earth' as a symbolism of man's mortality


  • September 14, 2007
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    thanks!

    From guest karen (contact)
    OOOH! i totally get it now! thanks


  • September 12, 2007
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    umm

    From guest karen (contact)
    im doing a school essay on this poem and i was wondering what the message of the poem is?..its in my mind but i just cant get it out..help me out! thanks

    • I-Like-Rhymes Moderators member
      September 12, 2007
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      To Guest Karen
      Just to help you "get it out of your mind"
      Having read the poem a couple of times (reading out loud is good) think of what the writer is doing in the poem and what she might see (there's a hint at the end). Do her actions bear this out? Is the enemy a real thing or an emotion or perhaps both?


  • August 28, 2007
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    Help

    From guest Chloe (contact)
    Can you Please explain what the line, "the birds sang frail as glass" could mean, or what it could suggest???


  • August 26, 2007
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    thanks for the meaning

    From guest Percy (contact)
    thanks for submiting a meaning it really helped me understand the poem


  • June 20, 2007
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    The meaning.

    From guest .....Anon (contact)
    This poem exclaims the fear this person has with snakes, and how he/she believes that to overcome this fear they need to kill this. But once this is completed they still feel as if that presense is within them, killing them did not beat that everlasting fear. But more encourage it, as that snake will now overtake that persons mind and soul.


  • May 28, 2007
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    Help

    From guest ... (contact)
    What does this poem mean?


  • April 28, 2007
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    ?

    From guest hana (contact)
    this poem was good, but i didnt get "the day was clear as fire", because fire isnt clear?


  • February 5, 2007
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    good

    From guest hauwa lima (contact)
    good!


  • December 26, 2006
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    awesome

    From guest marlyn (contact)
    this poem i understood i loved it it was so cool nice job on doing this poem


  • December 13, 2006
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    The Killer by Judith Wright

    From guest Paul Williams (contact)
    This is my favourite Wright poem by far; and one of my favourite Australian poems all told. What an enormous shame the Australian Electoral Commission changed its proposed name of Wright for the new federal district in Queensland to Flynn. instead


  • January 24, 2005
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    An excellent poem!