How is Nature portrayed in the poem "Hunting Snake" by Judith Wright?

, by now, is
known as the icon of Australian poetry that is replete with a consciousness for ecological
preservation. Such poetry has to concentrate on the variegated forms of natural beauty in the
Australian space. Wright has written famous poems about birds, like the oft-quoted
"Magpies" or described the Australian countryside and bushlands and seas and mountains
in her famous poems like " South of My Days", " Train Journey", " Flame
Tree in a Quarry", "Request to a Year", " Platypus' etc , of which "The
Hunting Snake" is one. As a poet with an eco critical awareness, Wright celebrates the
special livingness and " whatness" or the exquisite incomparable inner living essence
of nature, be it a tree, or a bird or a season or bushland. Here also the snake's living essence
is captured with elan and grace by the poet. The poem opens with a contrast between the human
and the natural animal's world. Whereas inspite of being " sun-warmed', the persona feels
the frozen cold of a still autumnal afternoon, the snake is full of verve and vitality. It
passes "reeling by". The word"reeling" is significant, since it suggests a
rapid, effortless or violent lurching of the snake which here suggets predatory power. The
process of the hunt is exquisitely described. The predator is absolutely focussed on the
kill--"head down", "he quested through the parting grass". The word quest
suggests that hunting is the snake's single-minded mission, just as a spiritual seeker quests
for truth. The snake is awesome but beautiful; glittering "diamond scales" dazzle on
his skin as it reflects the sunlight. It fascinates the seer or the persona; "and we lost
breath to see him pass". Breathlessly the beauty and vitality-haunted persona can have a
feel of the snake's "fierce intent" and without knowing the identity of his kill, the
poet and her fellow watchers looked intent on the snake: "we stood/ Our eyes went with him
as he went". The snake is biologically cold, but at the same time"dark and
splendid". the word " dark" has an unmistakableof mysteriousness and its
splendour or dazzle is unputdownable. With the snake passing out of their sight, they "
took a deeper breath of day" and went on in their journey. The expression " deeper
breath of day" suggests that first, they were holding their breath at the sight of the
awful beauty of the snake and second, that the snake had given them a sense of darkness or a
feel of the world of death, which now the onlookers relieve them of by breathing the
"day", suggesting hope and life. It is indeed a poem of celebration of the vital
terrible power and beauty of the snake, an integral part of nature, which has an imposing
presence on the poet's psyche.