TRB 11: Man and Bat by DH Lawrence

[Suzanne]

This thread is part of "The Rattle Bag 20" If you would like more information you can find it here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15198



I will very quietly drop this one on the table:
http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/1243.html


Lips shut tightly, I smile, turn my palms skyward....and shrug a question...
Suzanne

[JohnLott]

You have finally beaten me into submission, Suzanne.

I give in.

If this was a novel, it would be 1,000 pages and 750,000 words and the story could have been told with: cue camera 1 on Page 1; cue camera 2 on Page 2. Cut - it's a wrap. Then there would be the rest of the day for Bruscetta and a glass of Barolo on the terrace.

One epic too far, Messrs Heaney and Hughes.



J.

[Ros]

yeah, not a fan of DHL.

Ros

[Deryn]

I've been doing quite a bit of reading and researching into poets works and discovering what I like to read and what gives me inspiration.

Reading this poem, or trying to, I didn't even make half way, I now know what I definitely don't like.

It will be interesting to hear from people that do like it though.

Deryn Bach

[David]

Quite a strange choice, both for and from The Rattle Bag, this one, I think. Some of Lawrence's animal poems are stunningly good, but this is not one of them. It's a mixture of brilliant observational images and some dreadful creaking descriptions of what's happening.

Surely you could have found a better one for DHL, Suzanne?

Mind you, it must have been in somebody's Top 20.

[Suzanne]

Hello,

Thank you for the comments. I have been busy but watching the thread with great interest.
The lack of comment is as revealing as the comments themselves.

No one will speak up in defense of this?
Surely, it has some good qualities?

Here is another one from DHL from TRB

http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/Classic%20 ... squito.htm

Is this one better?

Warmly,
Suzanne

[Ros]

Here is another one from DHL from TRB

http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/Classic%20 ... squito.htm

Is this one better?

A bit. Not much. 'accursed hairy frailty' !!!

Ros

[JohnLott]

Maybe Suzanne,

The Mygg can be a bit flighty so I'll let you know.....



J.

[David]

Here is another one from DHL from TRB

http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/Classic%20 ... squito.htm

Is this one better?

Yes. This one is very good.

[Ros]

Here is another one from DHL from TRB

http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/Classic%20 ... squito.htm

Is this one better?

Yes. This one is very good.

''accursed hairy frailty"

Can't get past that.

[David]

''accursed hairy frailty"

Can't get past that.

Well, it's a long way down the poem, so you've come quite a long way already. In fact, it's a very small part of quite a long - and very good - poem. Let your eye slide over that bit, if you must. Read it again. Do you not see the quality of it?

[Ros]

Yes, I'll agree it has a certain something, and quite a clever tone. Too tired now to appreciate it, I think.

[Suzanne]

Hello, Friday greetings!

While discussing TRB with a certain someone ( read: Peter) this poem was pointed out to me as more modern than the rest. A favorite 20 of his? I confess, I am unsure. I picked it anyway as I thought it was worth considering.

I did not like it, do not like the style. It reminds me of this sort of interaction:




True, I think Batman, Bam! Pow! Whap! when I read it. It is difficult for me to take it seriously. I found the language to0 direct, silly and lacking artistry.

The second poem does about the same for me and they will blend into one another in my mind as the same voice, same poem.. same- ness.

The clever messages are skewed by the tone, like an old LP recording of a famous singer... the lyrics are lost.

However, and I say this shocking even myself, it gains several degrees of value when I am reminded of the time period from when it came. Taken in the context, it may have seemed refreshing at the time.

Should a poem gain value by understanding the situations existing when it was written? The debate it eternal.

BUT The study of these ( more of less random) poems from a chunk of the past gives those of us that have not studied poetry in an academic setting, a taste of the arts history. With that in mind, I can see that it, as well as other poems by him, as steps towards what we (yes, we) do today.
This enlightenment undoubtedly and without exception changes how we read/write poetry.


Like Walt Whitman and I, DHL and I will not be sharing cozy moments over a glass of wine in front of a fire.
Yet, I am enriched by knowing at some time in the past, someone like me was doing just that with delight.


Warmly,
Suzanne

[JohnLott]

Coming back, for the moment, to Mosquito, I think he could have said all there was to say on p.294, without taking p.295 and p.296.
Certainly a better read than the bat, but still a lot of waffle.
However, there is a good poem of his on p.297 which really does suit me - so that gets my vote.



j.

[Suzanne]

Post a link to that poem?

[JohnLott]

http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/lawrence.htm

[BenJohnson]

In my early twenties I found a lot of pleasure in DHL I wouldn't ever rank him very high as a poet, he tends to ramble on a length like Walt Whitman without the same amazing result. I like DHL a lot less now then I used to. For his animal poems 'Snake' is one of my favourites http://homepages.wmich.edu/~cooneys/poe ... snake.html


'Bat' reads too much like a very early draft. He has chucked every single thought into the mix and now needs to take a huge pair of scissors to the result.