[PW] Poetry question, probably Australian

[Ellen Cousins]

Hello Peter,

The Snake by V. Palmer is the one your friend remembers.

The D. H. Lawrence poem is one I will never forget.

Ellen C.

Peter Macinnis wrote:
> This one came at me, due to a stated interest in Oz poetry and a minor 
> web presence in that area.  I seem to recall studying two contrasting 
> poems on snakes at school, one by D H Lawrence and one by Judith Wright, 
> but that is an unreliable memoir of a distant past.  I am having no luck 
> with the usual searches.
> 
> Please reply here, and I will pass on any answer to the querent, who wrote:
> 
> ****************************************
> 
> I have been looking for a poem which I knew as a kid and now as the 
> light is fading, so is my memory. I started to say it to one of my 
> daughters and came unstuck after a few lines. For the last few weeks I 
> have been searching hence my arrival at your beaut page of poetry.
> 
> The poem begins;
> 
> "I killed a snake this morning in the grass
> A lovely sinister thing of gleaming jet
> I see it yet, gliding across the place my feet would pass......"
> 
> And there I dried up, never to remember another word.
> 
> Would you have any ideas as to title, author or where I can search next? 
> I am at my wits end.
> 
> ****************************************
> cheers
> 
> peter
>