Classic and Contemporary Poetry
VIRGIN YOUTH (2), by DAVID HERBERT LAWRENCE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Now and again Last Line: On nothingness. Pardon me! Alternate Author Name(s): Lawrence, D. H. Subject(s): Virginity; Youth; Vestals | ||||||||
Now and again The life that looks through my eyes And quivers in words through my mouth, And behaves like the rest of men, Slips away, so I gasp in surprise. And then My unknown breasts begin To wake, and down the thin Ripples below the breast an urgent Rhythm starts, and my silent and slumberous belly In one moment rouses insurgent. My soft, slumbering belly, Quivering awake with one impulse and one will, Then willy nilly A lower me gets up and greets me; Homunculus stirs from his roots, and strives until, Risen up, he beats me. He stands, and I tremble before him. -- Who then art thou? -- He is wordless, but sultry and vast, And I can't deplore him. -- Who art thou? What hast Thou to do with me, thou lustrous one, iconoclast? -- How beautiful he is! without sound, Without eyes, without hands; Yet, flame of the living ground He stands, the column of fire by night. And he knows from the depths; he quite Alone understands. Quite alone, he alone Understands and knows. Lustrously sure, unknown Out nowhere he rose. I tremble in his shadow, as he burns For the dark goal. He stands like a lighthouse, night churns Round his base, his dark light rolls Into darkness, and darkly returns. Is he calling, the lone one? Is his deep Silence full of summons? Is he moving invisibly? Does his steep Curve sweep towards a woman's? Traveller, column of fire, It is vain. The glow of thy full desire Becomes pain. Dark, ruddy pillar, forgive me! I Am helplessly bound To the rock of virginity. Thy Strange voice has no sound. We cry in the wilderness. Forgive me, I Would so gladly lie In the womanly valley, and ply The twofold dance. Thou dark one, thou proud, curved beauty! I Would worship thee, letting my buttocks prance. But the hosts of men with one voice deny Me the chance. They have taken the gates from the hinges And built up the way. I salute thee But to deflower thee. Thy tower impinges On nothingness. Pardon me! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 3. AMARYLLIS by THOMAS CAMPION TYRANNICK [TYRANNIC] LOVE: SONG by JOHN DRYDEN ADVICE TO YOUNG LADIES by ALEC DERWENT HOPE AFTER THE PLEASURE PARTY by HERMAN MELVILLE ON THE MARRIAGE OF A VIRGIN by DYLAN THOMAS ON THE VIRGINITY OF THE VIRGIN MARY AND JOHANNA SOUTHCOTT by WILLIAM BLAKE A BABY ASLEEP AFTER PAIN by DAVID HERBERT LAWRENCE |
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