Autumn Rain

Autumn Rain

By D. H. Lawrence 1916

British Literature Class

            THE plane leaves

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.

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.

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.

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.