D. H. Lawrence’s Piano shows a man experiencing nostalgia as he listens to a woman singing which reminds him of his childhood.
The poem starts with the man hearing the soft singing of a woman which takes him on a mental journey down memory lane and he sees visions of his childhood flashing in front of him. The memory he focuses on is that of a small child who is sitting beneath a grand piano as his mother plays it, taking his mother’s elegant feet into his small hands and listening to the loud chords of music.
The man is reluctant to remember those days and be affected by them, but the song which the woman is singing seems to have a slow subtle impact on him and despite his hesitance he gives in to his emotions and yearns for the days of childhood: the cold Sunday evenings in winter when it used to now outside and they, mother and son used to sit in the warm comfortable indoors and sing melodious hymns with the help of the piano.
The man who was listening to the lady singing now thinks that it would be useless for her to continue on as he is already so affected by his memories that he is just physically present, his mind elsewhere. Without any thought of his adulthood, he bursts into tears remembering the blissful ignorance and innocence of his infant years. He starts weeping, thus bridging the gap between his past and his present
short summary
In this poem, DH Lawrence has depicted the way a person experiences Nostalgia. In this poem, there is a man who is a grown man and he is thinking about all the stages through which he passed at different times in his life. He is remembering his childhood and he is longing for the times that have passed. But along with that feeling of longing also makes him feel a little guilty because he thinks that he is not being sincere and faithful to his present by remembering and longing for the times which have passed. This poem helps the readers in understanding the feelings of nostalgia when a person wants to return to the past and yet wants to remain in the present at the same time.
four levels
literal comprehension:
The speaker in “Piano” by D. H. Lawrence is proud to be a full grown man, yet he loves remembering his happy childhood; his nostalgic attitude causes him to feel guilty as if he had betrayed his present state of being. Through effective imagery, Lawrence is able (to describe an image) to help the reader understand the speaker’s nostalgic attitude. The diction and tone used in this poem reveal the speaker’s struggle as his feelings mix between his desire to be a man and his desire to return to his childhood. The syntax and structure of the poem keep the reader in tune with the flow of the poem. In this poem a man struggles to remain a man while fighting off his memories of the past, which he feels would be uncharacteristic of his present maturity.
The imagery in this poem helps to describe a picture in the reader’s mind so that the reader can sympathize with the speaker during his journeys into the past. In the first stanza, in the first line, the first image is of a woman. In the fourth line the reader learns that this woman is the speaker’s mother. The third line shows an image of a “child sitting under the piano . . . pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles.” This image gives the reader an image, perhaps of a parlor room, of a child about three or four years of age enjoying the music produced by his mother.
Interpretation: Lawrence is so emotionally charged with the memories of his childhood that it becomes negative to the extent that he starts remembering what he doesnt want to remember. Whether it be negative, or hurtful, he produces a dramatic piece that reverberates between past and present.
Critical Thinking: Isn't Lawrence just being typically early 20th century macho in feeling he ought to resist sensations that open up his emotions and his childhood love of his mother?
Assimilation: It really a fantastic peom every thing let us to feel good about our childhood and it really influnce my feeling and let me to cry like the poet becauce i really miss my childhood.
The poem starts with the man hearing the soft singing of a woman which takes him on a mental journey down memory lane and he sees visions of his childhood flashing in front of him. The memory he focuses on is that of a small child who is sitting beneath a grand piano as his mother plays it, taking his mother’s elegant feet into his small hands and listening to the loud chords of music.
The man is reluctant to remember those days and be affected by them, but the song which the woman is singing seems to have a slow subtle impact on him and despite his hesitance he gives in to his emotions and yearns for the days of childhood: the cold Sunday evenings in winter when it used to now outside and they, mother and son used to sit in the warm comfortable indoors and sing melodious hymns with the help of the piano.
The man who was listening to the lady singing now thinks that it would be useless for her to continue on as he is already so affected by his memories that he is just physically present, his mind elsewhere. Without any thought of his adulthood, he bursts into tears remembering the blissful ignorance and innocence of his infant years. He starts weeping, thus bridging the gap between his past and his present
short summary
In this poem, DH Lawrence has depicted the way a person experiences Nostalgia. In this poem, there is a man who is a grown man and he is thinking about all the stages through which he passed at different times in his life. He is remembering his childhood and he is longing for the times that have passed. But along with that feeling of longing also makes him feel a little guilty because he thinks that he is not being sincere and faithful to his present by remembering and longing for the times which have passed. This poem helps the readers in understanding the feelings of nostalgia when a person wants to return to the past and yet wants to remain in the present at the same time.
literal comprehension:
The speaker in “Piano” by D. H. Lawrence is proud to be a full grown man, yet he loves remembering his happy childhood; his nostalgic attitude causes him to feel guilty as if he had betrayed his present state of being. Through effective imagery, Lawrence is able (to describe an image) to help the reader understand the speaker’s nostalgic attitude. The diction and tone used in this poem reveal the speaker’s struggle as his feelings mix between his desire to be a man and his desire to return to his childhood. The syntax and structure of the poem keep the reader in tune with the flow of the poem. In this poem a man struggles to remain a man while fighting off his memories of the past, which he feels would be uncharacteristic of his present maturity.
The imagery in this poem helps to describe a picture in the reader’s mind so that the reader can sympathize with the speaker during his journeys into the past. In the first stanza, in the first line, the first image is of a woman. In the fourth line the reader learns that this woman is the speaker’s mother. The third line shows an image of a “child sitting under the piano . . . pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles.” This image gives the reader an image, perhaps of a parlor room, of a child about three or four years of age enjoying the music produced by his mother.
Interpretation: Lawrence is so emotionally charged with the memories of his childhood that it becomes negative to the extent that he starts remembering what he doesnt want to remember. Whether it be negative, or hurtful, he produces a dramatic piece that reverberates between past and present.
Critical Thinking: Isn't Lawrence just being typically early 20th century macho in feeling he ought to resist sensations that open up his emotions and his childhood love of his mother?
Assimilation: It really a fantastic peom every thing let us to feel good about our childhood and it really influnce my feeling and let me to cry like the poet becauce i really miss my childhood.
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