D. H. Lawrence

D. H. Lawrence: Poet

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

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'.

Contents

D. H. Lawrence: Poet is available in paperback at £15 from Troubador.co.uk

In preparation: Art for Life's Sake:

Of Keith Sagar's first book, The Art of D. H. Lawrence (1966), Professor Vivian de Sola Pinto wrote that it marked the start of serious Lawrence scholarship in England. Alastair Niven described Sagar's Calendar of Lawrence's works (1979) as 'indispensable, fascinating and almost certainly as authoritative a literary calendar as we could expect for any writer'. Professor John Worthen described The Life of D. H. Lawrence (1980) as 'the best single-volume biography of Lawrence'. Keith Brown, reviewing D. H. Lawrence: Life into Art in the Times Literary Supplement in 1985 wrote: 'Criticism of Dr Sagar's book is well-nigh impossible. It is clearly going to be there as long as formal Lawrence studies survive'. Of his latest book, D. H. Lawrence: Poet (2008), Christopher Pollnitz wrote: 'Keith Sagar has done more than any other critic to reshape understanding of Lawrence as poet'.

In addition to his books, Keith Sagar has produced over fifty years a stream of essays, introductions and lectures on Lawrence, fifteen of which (including three which are unpublished) are collected here.

I have several Lawrence postcards to his sister Emily for sale at prices between £750 and £1000. E-mail me for details: keithsagar@tiscali.co.uk.

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