Five Ways to Kill a Man

Five Ways to Kill a Man

This poem is divided into 5 different stanzas, all of which involve

different ways to die. The poem is written rather coldly and treats

death as an every day issue, whilst the rest of us try not to think of

such things. It is very dispassionate about life. The final stanza is

also a political comment, as if to challenge our thought processes

toward our every day life.

The first paragraph start with a line that hooks into your brain,

“There are many cumbersome ways to kill a man.” This is not a sentence

you hear every day to say the least and because of that my

subconscious automatically tries to picture someone saying those

words. In my imagination I picture a dark character speaking that

sentance as if to talk of past experience. This very quickly gives me

a sense of darkness and fear towards the poem.

The first stanza then goes on to talk about carrying planks of wood

and nailing someone to it. This is clearly a reference to

crucifixion. This stanza adds gruesome detail to the scene using

phrases like “some vinegar, and one man to h...