Tom Merritt

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This poem was included in the original 1915 edition. 

AT first I suspected something--
She acted so calm and absent-minded.
And one day I heard the back door shut
As I entered the front, and I saw him slink
Back of the smokehouse into the lot
And run across the field.
And I meant to kill him on sight.
But that day, walking near Fourth Bridge
Without a stick or a stone at hand,
All of a sudden I saw him standing
Scared to death, holding his rabbits,
And all I could say was, "Don't, Don't, Don't,"
As he aimed and fired at my heart.
 

Comments

Lonely156 , 6 months ago

WOAH! talk about drama! This is awesome!! but I still dont get when it says "Holding his rabbits"

Is he holding his nuts?

 

Jordan , 5 months ago

No, he just came back from hunting that is why he has a gun :]

 

John , 2 months ago

This is a great poem. Sparse, but brimming with details. So much drama, so much energy swept into the last few lines.

 

Crazy_Girl , 2 months ago

By the second line in the poem, "She acted so calm and absent-minded."

He is talking about his wife, and how he caught her with another man.

Merritt meant to kill him on sight. Knowing this, and probably assuming that the young man knew this too.

Was the young man justified in killing Tom? Of what if it was the opposite way around, Tom killed the man?


In my opinion, I think the young man who cheated on his wife killed Tom out of spite and fear. Because he was hunting in the woods, that's why he was "holding rabbits". But still, in your opinion, does this make it right?

 

T-roy , about 1 month ago

woah knarly
sucks to be him

 
 

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