D. H. Lawrence: Poet

This new collection of Keith Sagar's writings on the poetry of D H Lawrence includes many new interpretations of well-known poems. It ends with a year-by-year checklist of reviews and criticism of Lawrence's poems, from 1913 to the present.

Description

D. H. Lawrence wrote over a thousand poems. His standing as a poet would probably have been much higher but for his pre-eminence as a writer of fiction. Though much has been written about Lawrence's poetry (as revealed by the several hundred entries in the book's checklist of criticism), there have been relatively few full length studies. This book deals with the whole range of his poetry from his earliest poems, such as 'To Campions' and 'To Guelder Roses', through the poems inspired by his elopement with and subsequent marriage to Frieda Weekley (Look! We Have Come Through!), to the mature achievement, in free verse forms inspired by Walt Whitman, of Birds, Beasts and Flowers, Pansies and Last Poems. The genesis of the poems in Lawrence's life is explored; and there are new interpretations of his most memorable poems, such as 'The Wild Common', 'Piano', 'Song of a Man Who Has Come Through', Tortoises, 'Peach', 'Pomegranate', 'Snake', 'Bavarian Gentians' and 'The Ship of Death'.

Chapter 1, The Young Man and the Demon
Chapter 2, Lawrence's Debt to Whitman
Chapter 3, “Little Living Myths”: Birds, Beasts and Flowers
Chapter 4, The Genesis of 'Snake'
Chapter 5, The Open Self and the Open Poem
Chapter 6, “New, Strange Flowers”: Pansies, Nettles and Last Poems

About the author

Keith Sagar, formerly Reader in Literature at the University of Manchester, and was a Special Professor in the School of English at the University of Nottingham. He was the author of many books on Lawrence, including The Art of D. H. Lawrence, The Life of D. H. Lawrence and D. H. Lawrence: Life into Art, and several on Ted Hughes. The most recent book, Literature and the Crime Against Nature (2005) deals with sixteen of the greatest writers in the Western canon, from Homer to Hughes. See http://www.keithsagar.co.uk

Reviews 

"Keith Sagar has done more than any other critic to reshape understanding of Lawrence as poet. In this collection of essays, he writes, with unpretentious ease and the gravity that comes from a life-time’s critical consideration, on the full range of the poetry." --Christopher Pollnitz

"Sagar's eloquent prose and precise manner of thought set the gorgeous passages of verse and prose that he cites from Lawrence within a frame that does full justice to, indeed surprisingly re-enlivens, even the best-known among them. ... I would urge Lawrence scholars as well to reacquaint themselves with Sagar's thought and writing on the poetry, so carefully gathered into a single excursus on the poetry. ...His articulately discriminating tastes enable him to make the case that much more thoroughly and unarguably for Lawrence's verse at its most astonishing..."--Holly Laird in The D. H. Lawrence Review

“D. H. Lawrence: Poet, the fruit of forty years' reflection, is the most accessible introduction to Lawrence's poetry currently available. This highly entertaining book ... makes fascinating reading for anyone interested in the development of modem poetry. “--Karl Orend, Times Literary Supplement

“Keith Sagar's new book covers the entire range of Lawrence's poetic output, charting his development from the earliest signs of interest to the final, highest reaches of artistic accomplishment in some of the Last Poems. It combines detailed textual analysis with biographical and literary contextualisation, considering the influence of place and situation on the writing of specific poems and situating Lawrence within a chain of key poets. .… Overall, Sagar has forged an argument that is rich in insight and broad in scope. He has brought to this work a wealth of knowledge and understanding of Lawrence accumulated over decades of attentive study. This book will remain an extremely important contribution to the field, serving both as a reference companion and as a convincing interpretative guide to Lawrence's poetry.” --Bethan Jones, Journal of D. H. Lawrence Studies