Autumn Rain
By D. H. Lawrence 1916
British Literature Class
fall black and wet
on the lawn;
The cloud sheaves
in heaven's fields set
droop and are drawn
in falling seeds of rain;
the seed of heaven
on my face
falling--I hear again
like echoes even
that softly pace
Heaven's muffled floor,
the winds that tread
out all the grain
of tears, the store
harvested
in the sheaves of pain
caught up aloft:
the sheaves of dead
men that are slain
now winnowed soft
on the floor of heaven;
manna invisible
of all the pain
here to us given;
finely divisible
falling as rain.
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Analysis Essay
The Autumn Rain by D. H. Lawrence begins with, and
continues to talk about sufferings a grain
has to go through in order to be harvested. On the second line of the first
stanza, the phrase fall black and wet signifies
the trials and ordeals, for black
represents dark, gloomy society and never-ending route leading to success, and when
you’re wet, you are most likely to
feel dreadful with the rain soaked up in your clothes and socks. Droop and are drawn on the last line of
the second stanza indicates the same thing; it takes a cloud’s sacrifice to
make it rain.
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As the poem continues, the trials and ordeals are intensified. Seed of heaven, on the second line of
the third stanza, can be considered as one of the smaller results of rain; rain,
especially the autumn rain, is like the seed
of heaven in a way that it is the main element required for better
production of grains or fruits. I hear
again, on the next stanza, rhymes with rain;
again and rain rhyme. This phrase suggests that the sacrfice, or the rain, has to continue again and again to
accomplish what you’ve aimed for in the first place.
On the next two stanzas, it says, ‘The winds that tread out all the grain of
tears, the store harvested in the sheaves of pain.’ Here, the line grain of tears may be drawing a picture
of a grain lowering its head when it’s wet or when it has been fully ripened. This
represents the hardships that grains go through; they are treaded out by the
winds, (Here, to tread out means to
step on them really hard, so that the zests of the grains are peeled off,
usually done in the process of harvesting.) and are harvested in pain.
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The poet also compares the harvested grain to the sheaves of dead men that are slain. This is a rather extreme
comparison, especially since the rest of the poem is comprised of serene
languge. Thus, it does make a strong point that harvested grains are the
products of extraordinary difficult processes. In other words, success may only
come after the harsh courses of adversity. By saying, heaven with manna invisible of all the pain, he probably means the fruition
in the end, finally getting rid of all the pain that existed in the past.
Overall, the autumn rain falls, the leaves fall, the grains fall, which
are harvested and given to us, making our world the heaven. By describing this
long process of harvest, I think the poet wanted to talk about the common fact
that only after overcoming trials and ordeals, can a person accomplish
something he or she wants.
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