D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930) is primarily known for his novels, but he also published over 800 poems in his lifetime. Raised in poverty in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, England, Lawrence was the fourth child of a schoolteacher mother, with whom he was close, and a heavy-drinking coalminer father. The friction between his mother and father left a lasting impression that came out in his literary work.
Lawrence’s novels are known for their frank treatment of sex, which earned him a reputation as a pornographer and led to numerous obscenity charges over his career. However, focusing on this aspect of his work neglects the complexity of Lawrence’s thought, which was idiosyncratic, rebellious, and often highly critical of the hypocrisies he saw in society.
Profoundly influenced by Romanticism, Lawrence believed in the power of nature and the primitive subconscious to heal the ills of the modern world. His early poems show this Romantic influence, but his later works increasingly show affinities with Modernism. Lawrence was always on the fringes of this latter movement, but he remained steadfastly individualistic and never overtly aligned himself with any particular scene.
Because of his and his wife’s legal troubles in his home country, Lawrence was a restless wanderer, living at various times all over Europe, North America, and elsewhere. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 44.
D.H. Lawrence poems: