15+ D.H. Lawrence Poems - Poem Analysis

Afternoon in School: The Last Lesson

‘Afternoon in School: The Last Lesson’ by D.H. Lawrence is told from the perspective of a teacher exhausted with his thoughtless class of students.

When will the bell ring, and end this weariness?

How long have they tugged the leash, and strained apart

My pack of unruly hounds: I cannot start

Them again on a quarry of knowledge they hate to hunt,

The Best of School

D. H. Lawrence’s ‘The Best of School’ describes a teacher’s growing wonder as he watches his students make discoveries in the course of their studies.

This poem is an excellent showcase of Lawrence's flair for metaphor and expressive imagery. It also provides a complement to another school poem of his, 'The Last Lesson.'

The blinds are drawn because of the sun,

And the boys and the room in a colourless gloom

Of underwater float: bright ripples run

Across the walls as the blinds are blown

Week-night Service

‘Week-night Service’ creates a vivid scene of a church at night. The sound of bells disturbs the otherwise quiet church yard and the nature that surrounds it.

This poem provides a vivid look at D.H. Lawrence's distinctive writing style. It is not his most famous work, but it is a highly accomplished poem. Its use of personification and imagery, in particular, are carefully constructed and striking. The poem's ambiguity makes it rewarding for readers who return to it again and again.

The five old bells

Are hurrying and eagerly calling,

Imploring, protesting

They know, but clamorously falling

Last Lesson of the Afternoon

‘Last Lesson of the Afternoon’ portrays a disillusioned teacher’s weariness with unengaged students and the futility of teaching.

This poem is a good representation of DH Lawrence's poems in terms of its themes and style. Lawrence often explores themes of disillusionment, frustration, and the struggle for personal fulfillment within societal constructs. The poem captures the weariness and emotional detachment of the speaker, which are recurring themes in Lawrence's works. The use of imagery, rhetorical questions, and introspection also align with Lawrence's poetic style.

When will the bell ring, and end this weariness?

How long have they tugged the leash, and strained apart,

My pack of unruly hounds! I cannot start

Them again on a quarry of knowledge they hate to hunt,

A Winter’s Tale

‘A Winter’s Tale’ by D.H. Lawrence tells a tale of two parting lovers who meet in the woods on a dark and misty winter day.

Yesterday the fields were only grey with scattered snow,

And now the longest grass-leaves hardly emerge;

Yet her deep footsteps mark the snow, and go

On towards the pines at the hills’ white verge.

Beautiful Old Age

Beautiful Old Age is a poem in which Lawrence imagines a world in which old age is truly revered and hoped for, & describes what that world would feel like.

It ought to be lovely to be old

to be full of the peace that comes of experience

and wrinkled ripe fulfilment.

Bei Hennef

Lawrence’s ‘Bei Hennef’ describes the effect twilight has to clear a speaker’s mind and make him see the strength of his love.

The little river twittering in the twilight,

The wan, wondering look of the pale sky,

This is almost bliss.

Discord in Childhood

‘Discord in Childhood’ depicts domestic strife against a stormy backdrop, portraying a parental clash ending in a chilling “silence of blood,” from a child’s engulfed perspective.

Outside the house an ash-tree hung its terrible whips,

And at night when the wind arose, the lash of the tree

Shrieked and slashed the wind, as a ship’s

Weird rigging in a storm shrieks hideously.

Humming-bird

Lawrence’s ‘Humming-bird’ imagines it as a primeval force, contrasting its past grandeur with today’s delicate perception.

I can imagine, in some other world

Primeval-dumb, far back

In that most awful stillness, that only gasped and hummed,

Humming-birds raced down the avenues.

Love on the Farm

‘Love on the Farm’ by D.H. Lawrence is a poem about the universality of love, passion, and death. Lawrence depicts these elements through the various lives observable on a farm.

Oh, water-hen, beside the rushes

Hide your quaint, unfading blushes,

Still your quick tail, and lie as dead,

Till the distance folds over his ominous tread.

Explore more poems from D.H. Lawrence

Perfidy

‘Perfidy’ by D.H. Lawrence describes a speaker’s depression over what he considers a betrayal on the part of the woman he loves.

Hollow rang the house when I knocked on the door,

And I lingered on the threshold with my hand

Upraised to knock and knock once more:

Listening for the sound of her feet across the floor,

Piano

‘Piano’ by D.H. Lawrence is a powerful and emotional poem about the past. It uses childhood memories and nostalgia to move the reader.

Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;

Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see

A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings

And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.

Pomegranate

‘Pomegranate’ by Lawrence uses the fruit as a metaphor for love’s beauty and heartbreak, celebrating the growth found in its fissures.

You tell me I am wrong.

Who are you, who is anybody to tell me I am wrong?

I am not wrong.

Snake

In ‘Snake,’ D.H. Lawrence contemplates a conflicted encounter with a snake, exploring themes of awe, societal norms, and regret.

A snake came to my water-trough

On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat,

To drink there.

Storm in the Black Forest

‘Storm in the Black Forest’ by D.H. Lawrence makes the readers feel how truly vulnerable mankind is in the face of nature’s fury.

Now it is almost night, from the bronzy soft sky

jugfull after jugfull of pure white liquid fire, bright white

tipples over and spills down,

and is gone

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