For my Tuesday Poem post this week, I thought I’d post some D.H. Lawrence. It is spring/summer here in London, and everything is so green and lush (we’re still having rain showers here and there, which helps with the greenness!), which has, lately, reminded me a lot of Lawrence and his championing of fertility (in all its forms), the rebalancing of the physical world and the desire to succumb to the sensations. I would say that, in the past, I have probably preferred Lawrence’s short stories over his poetry, but having read a lot more of his poetry lately, I do really adore the modern tone of his poetics. There is so much that still seems so current in Lawrence.
Humming Bird
I can imagine, in some otherworld
Primeval-dumb, far back
In that most awful stillness, that only gasped and hummed,
Humming-birds raced down the avenues.
Before anything had a soul,
While life was a heave of Matter, half inanimate,
This little bit chipped off in brilliance
And went whizzing through the slow, vast, succulent stems.
I believe there were no flowers, then,
In the world where the humming-bird flashed ahead of creation.
I believe he pierced the slow vegetable veins with his long beak.
Probably he was big
As mosses, and little lizards, they say were once big.
Probably he was a jabbing, terrifying monster.
We look at him through the wrong end of the long telescope of Time,
Luckily for us.
Be sure to head on over to the Tuesday Poem hub this week with your morning coffee and check out what the other Tuesday Poets have in store, poetry-wise.
In other news, I am off to Paris first thing tomorrow morning to speak at the ‘Exile’s Return’ conference at the Sorbonne. The conference is a three-day event, with speakers from all over the world coming to give panel discussions and lectures on modernist writers who were ‘exiled’ (let’s use that term rather loosely) in Paris. I am preparing to give my paper ‘Within the pages of Rhythm: Mansfield, exile and nostalgie de la boue’, so I will be away again for another Tuesday and won’t be able to post a Tuesday Poem. However, I will be back the following week and will be excitedly blogging about the conference and talks, etc. I have a couple of bookstores, too, that I am determined to furrow out while in Paris, so I should come back with a far heavier carry bag that I am leaving with! Do check out the conference paper abstracts if you are interested!
June 26, 2012 at 8:31 am
Have a wonderful time Elizabeth – I look forward to your report from Paris – and thanks for Lawrence. I too adore this poem – it’s a marvellous piece of imagining, something we forget about in poetry sometimes. It’s given me an idea for a creative writing exercise. Before you go, what do you know about Mansfield’s writing about the supernatural ? There’s a book out ‘Mansfield with Monsters’ (Steam Press) which has stories written by Mansfield with supernatural elements in them … was she really that interested in that world? If you have a minute, I’d love an email with what you know…
July 3, 2012 at 7:51 pm
Thanks so much, Mary – just getting around to responding to everyone’s lovely comments now that I’ve returned! I’m pleased Lawrence’s poem triggered inspiration
Some of Mansfield’s work was very definitely gothic-inflected, for sure. I have heard of this new ‘Monsters’ book – it seems to have taken onboard this element of Mansfield’s work as a springboard. Will send an email when I regain my wits and have had a post-conference reorganisation 
June 30, 2012 at 8:33 am
Wonderful! I love the idea of the wrong end of the telescope, the long look back through Time when only Matter existed, before souls. What an excellent choice for this week. And the art is lovely too. Thanks for this bright small thing today!
July 3, 2012 at 7:54 pm
Yes, I found that particular ‘view’ down the telescope really intriguing, too, Michelle. And so fascinating that Lawrence called it the ‘wrong’ end. Perhaps it’s the ‘right’ view, after all? It’s always lovely to have you stop by, Michelle!
July 3, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Thanks Elizabeth! I adore Lawrence, especially this poem, and especially this line: “I believe he pierced the slow vegetable veins with his long beak.”. Gives me shivers. Have fun in Paris, lucky thing!
July 3, 2012 at 7:56 pm
That line gives me shivers, too, Leah! It is more than a little sinister, isn’t it? Something we view as so beautiful, Lawrence manages to hone in on the darker, penetrating element (of course!). It’s so lovely to have you part of the Tuesday Poem community, Leah – welcome, welcome
July 7, 2012 at 10:53 pm
Hi Elizabeth – just spotted your reply re. Mansfield’s Monsters. You;re right the publishers used the gothic elements of Mansfield’s stories as a springboard to rewrite them. The changes are interesting! I’ll keep reading and let you know how it goes…