Poetry is much more than intellectual meaning and requires more than just the intellect to understand it.  In fact, “understand” might be inappropriate to use with poetry.  It is more suitable to “explore” or “experience” poetry than “explain” it.  Read the poem, and then explore it through the process described below.

 

                Piano by D.H. Lawrence

 

1

Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me

2

Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see

3

A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings

4

And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.

 

 

5

In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song

6

Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong

7

To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside

8

And hymns in the cosy parlor, the tinkling piano our guide.

 

 

9

So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamor

10

With the great, black piano appassionato.  The glamour

11

Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast

12

Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

 

Waken the Senses

 

Waken all of your senses as you read the poem.  Observe and experience everything that you see, hear, smell and touch.

           

In line 1, picture the woman singing softly in the dusk.  Use your imagination to see how the dim light of the evening shadows the woman’s face, her hair and her clothing.  Imagine her voice; is it high pitched or low?  Sweet or sorrowful?  Exercise your imagination thoroughly before moving on to the next line.

 

Line 2 takes the poet “down the vista of years.”  Literally, vista implies a long or wide view of a scene.  This metaphor compares the vista to the length of years that the man has travelled.  Your imagination needs to blend the two ideas together.  That is, visualize the view of a landscape, while at the same time thinking of the passing of years.  When the literal “vista” successfully blends with the abstract “years,” the poetic meaning is complete.

 

It is easy to visualize the child under the piano in line 3.  Imagine yourself sitting there, hearing and feeling the booming soundboard of the piano.  Feel your own smallness compared to the size of the piano.  Observe the piano more closely in line 4 and see the feet of the piano being pressed by your own mother’s feet.  Feel the warmth of being close to mother while sensing your relative smallness.  Listen to mother singing along with the piano.  Recognize the piano as a symbol of mother, and let “piano” and “mother” blend together in your imagination as one single idea.

 

Pause to hold both scenes in your imagination.  On one hand, see the gentlemen sitting in a lounge listening to the woman singing.  On the other hand, see a young child listening to his mother singing.  Observe these two scenes side by side in your imagination.

 

 Second Stanza

 

The poet proceeds to tell his feelings in lines 5 and 6.  He describes the woman’s singing as “insidious” meaning sly, and more dangerous than it might seem.  This concept is developed further when he feels “betrayed” by the music pulling him back to his own childhood as if he is trying to resist the power of the woman’s voice.

 

Lines 7 and 8 move the image firmly into his childhood memory.  He recalls the warm, cosy parlor.  This implies further details such as the whole family sitting together, a fire crackling in the fireplace, hot tea being served, etc.  Lawrence does not provide all of these details; imagine the complete scene by yourself and linger in its warmth.

 

Third Stanza

 

The third stanza returns to the evening scene and the singer’s clamor, or outcry.  At the same time, the piano is being played “appassionato,” which we can see from the root of the word refers to “passion.”  Waken your senses to the lounge scene more thoroughly.  We know the light is dim.  It is probably rather smoky, a little bit crowded, with a lingering smell of whiskey or beer in the air.  Listen for the tinkling of glasses and murmuring voices of the other patrons.

 

Childish days return in line 11 as the poet struggles to stay in the present, but the music and singing pulls him deeply into the past.  His “manhood is cast down” in tears.  Imagine the man, maybe 40, 50 years old, with thinning, greying hair, wearing a dark suit, eyeglasses, etc.  Visualize the man completely and clearly.  In contrast to the mature man, we see his tears, weeping for his childhood, longing for the days at his mother’s feet.  The “flood” is a metaphor of his weeping tears, showing us how deeply he is crying.  Hold both images in your imagination at once:  On one side, the mature man sipping his brandy;  on the other side, the small boy beneath the piano. 

 

The power of the poem resides in the tension between the two images.  This symbolizes the tension in the man’s own heart.  To realize the full power of the poem, imagine scenes of your own childhood. 

 

Recall a powerful image from your own childhood, whether it be a piano, a swing-set or a puppy.  Use an image or symbol from your own life to carry you along the “vista of years” back to your own childhood and write a poem.

 

Rhyme

 

“Piano” follows a standard pattern of rhyme at the end of each line.  Observe how the rhymes emphasize the theme of the poem.  Strings (3) rhymes with sings (4) and the meaning of the two words accompany each other in the child’s memory. 

 

Song (5) and belong (6) are also linked thematically.  It is the song itself that causes him to belong to the past. 

 

Clamour (9) and glamour (10) rhyme on both syllables, making for a double rhyme.  It is ironic that despite the strong rhyme, the meanings of the words are in opposition.  Clamour is a noisy word in the evening lounge scene, while glamour is a gentle word in the childhood scene.  This explains why it is “vain for the singer” (9) to try and keep the man’s attention because the “pull” of childhood is a greater force.

 

Now read the whole poem aloud, placing emphasis on the rhyming words.  As you read, replay the images and senses in your imagination.  Try this same process for yourself with each poem that you want to explore.