Bavarian Gentians: A Poem by D. H. Lawrence Essay

David Herbert Lawrence has glorified the opposite values of life through his work. Lawrence expresses the profound value of natural beauty by praising the fact that opposite values are complementary.

Bavarian Gentians was written by Lawrence in his last days. Hence, the work depicts the depth of his understanding about the phenomenon that Death makes life complete. In life we value our sensory organs tell us (5 Senses: Touch, Taste, Sight, Listening and Smell) and forget about our consciousness. We do not value our Self as much as the body and physical matter. Lawrence has also tried to portray human existence as a burning flame that gives lights to others. Even if we think more about material things, our ultimate satisfaction lies in values such as Love and Compassion that we cannot measure.

Lawrence has highlighted that we are more inclined towards appreciating the superficial things in life. This line gives a spiritual angle to the poem Lawrence conveys, Not everyone lives life with gratitude and compassion.

We do not accept death but we accept life and that too superficially. It seems as though this fact only lives inside our subconscious. We forget to acknowledge this fact consciously. Our bodies are mortal but our consciousness is immortal, we may not be able to hold on to our bodies forever but our values and work will live forever.

In these lines & following stanzas the gentian flower and the story of Demeter’s daughter Persephone are consistently used as a metaphor for Light, Death, Darkness and Life. Lawrence also conveys that he is not afraid to embrace death.