Love and death : a study of the poetry and the poetic development of D.H. Lawrence

Lee, George Edward (1971) Love and death : a study of the poetry and the poetic development of D.H. Lawrence. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Lawrence's poetry is mainly a record of his developing concept and understanding of Love and Death. In his early poetry it is fair to say that his philosophy may be summarized by the equation Love = Sex = Death. And death represented a total loss of the self. After the period marked by the poetry of Look! We Have Come Through! the equation changes to Love = Sex = Death = Life. Death becomes a part of life and for Lawrence that part which is necessary in order to achieve real fulfilment. The ultimate of love and life is, for him, a full understanding and acceptance of death. Without this one could only achieve the 'greyness' of a 'death-in-life'. The writer hopes to illustrate in this thesis that Lawrence's definition of love and death, as positive forces in life, is the clearest modern statement in poetry of what Christ attempted to illustrate during his life time. His emphasis on sexual pleasure in marriage and his concern for a resurrection in the flesh recall two important early Christian doctrines which modern Christians have allowed to lapse. By re-emphasizing these, Lawrence, although not an orthodox Christian, revitalizes in his poetry the Christian concept of love and adds meaning to life by his acceptance of death.

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