The poet thinks the society is unjust. From my understanding the man the poem is focusing on has killed his wife. He undergoes a trial, yet there’s an emphasis on how he wistfully looks at the sky. This is a subtle sign of defeat. He knows he will never see the sky again, cause he is to be hung. He knows he is going to die. The 2nd line of the poem says blood and wine are red. He has refused to wear is scarlet coat because it reminds him of the blood on his hands from the deed he has done. In the fifth stanza it finally dawns on him what he has done and the hefty punishment he is to face. The poet repeats the line “for each man kills the thing he loves” this man loved his wife yet he killed her. Perhaps there is a reason behind this? “… And though I was a soul in pain.” He was in pain from the death of his wife. It seems to me there is an undiscovered underlying meaning for killing his wife. Although he killed her, their love didn’t die. Stanza eight says some ways which people kill their love. “The kindest use a knife” this oxymoron is quite ironic because it says the kindest use the most brutal way to kill who they love. “Dear Christ!” This suggest the poet was a Christian, perhaps coming from a Christian society too. A Christian society would have Christian values. Yet they kill this man for killing his wife. Who are they to take a life? The last 2 lines of the 2nd stanza has a tone of condenment. If the society takes the life of a man for killing his wife they are no better than this ‘murderer’. “For each man kills the thing he loves!” We have all killed at one point, though it may not have been physical. Perhaps a negative word or pessimistic attitude may have dashed someone’s spirits. This may have killed the person, only not physically. Rather it would have greatly inflicted the soul negatively. Yet although the society is guilty of this same offense they take the life of this man as if they were gods. The society in this case is just as guilty as this so called murder. This is the message I think the author is trying to pass across