Relationships Shaping Poems

While D.H. Lawrence wrote about issues in emotional health, his life as grown man gave him experience with what a women can cause, this is what gave D.H. Lawrence a unique way of describing emotional problems. D.H. Lawrence life changed over the short 44 years that he lived, although he didn’t live long, he sure wrote hundreds of poems that illustrated his life as a child, as well as his later years which led to his death in 1930. Lawrence life was divided into a couple sections in which Lawrence’s life changed for the good and bad. These changes that he experienced in his life got represented in some of his poems. Some of his life chapters were his childhood in Nottingham, in which he had a rough time growing up with his parents because of there differences. The time in which he had a lot of emotion in him was when he met his wife, Frieda. Frieda had a big impact on D.H. Lawrence because of the love that he had for her. He wrote many poems, and other writings about him and her, and how there relationship would often be. He writes what he thinks and shows about her. Some poems about this experience would be, “what would you fight for”, in which Lawrence truly what things are worth fighting for and which he does not truly care for that a great deal. Another is “To Women, As Far As I’m Concerned”, in this poem Lawrence speaks of how he has some feelings for Frieda, and the feelings that Frieda does not have for him. And in the end he speaks that feelings should just be left alone, and to just abandon them

as is.

One poem in which part of his life is portrayed is “What would you fight for?”, in this poem he is describing what things he though were worth fighting for and which events were not as crucial:

I am not sure I would always fight for my life.

Life might not be worth fighting for.

I am not sure I would always fight for my wife.

A wife isn't always worth fighting for.

Nor my children, nor my country, nor my fellow-men.

It all depends whether I found them worth fighting for...

(Lawrence 1-6)

The first two lines of the passage imply that because his life was not always about happiness and joyful times, that he would probably not fight for it, because its not worth it if you know that there is another life possible out there that is better than your own . But because he says “might”, that means that he has happy moments like the rest of the world, and may actually want to fight for it. This first line is repeated twice in his poem, implying that he is not sure. When he speaks of his wife he also says “isn’t always”, because he would often get into fights with his wife Frieda about her parents

relationships. Towards the middle of the poem he realizes that he would not fight for something in his life that he knows what would only get him into trouble. He understands

that his own country, children, and even his own father would be questionable for fighting for. This part of the poem makes Lawrence appear a little arrogant because it sounds like he is too good for these things that he takes for granite, and maybe he believes that he is of more importance. Lawrence also speaks of his financial life in this poem in which he states what “The only thing men invariably fight for Is their money. But I doubt if I'd fight for mine, anyhow not to shed a lot of blood over it.”(Lawrence 7-9) Being raised poor was not an easy thing to be proud of, so that is the reason that he says that he will not like “shed”, or talk anymore about how much money he actually has. He says that a lot of men would like to speak of there riches, not that Lawrence wouldn’t like to be one of those people, but he cant say he’s rich when he raised with four other siblings and know that there wasn’t always a lot of money to be spend on them.

But as we follow the poem we realized that he only exaggerates in order to make a point that he would fight for something in his own life. And what would be nothing more than is own “inward peace”(11). And as he says “tooth and nail, all the time”(10). Meaning that, not only would he fight for his inward peace that means a lot to him, but he would fight with fierce and ferocity in order to get this. His inward peace meant a lot to him. Because as he says he is “at one with myself”(11-12). So he can focus and also it

was time for him to relax in get his emotions out at the end of the day. Because if he didn’t get his inward peace then he would probably go crazy with himself

In the poem known as “On That Day”.