Dh Lawrence 'the Ship of Death' Analysis

Autumn Examined Essay Topic, EN1112: Poetry        

DH Lawrence, ‘The Ship of Death’

D. H. Lawrence wrote ‘The Ship of Death’ between 1929 and 1930, whilst suffering from tuberculosis: a then incurable illness that eventually led to his decease. Subsequently, the poem adopts an underlying pessimism and introspection that reflects Lawrence’s awareness of his imminent death. The abundance of figurative language within the poem- predominantly metaphors and similes- creates vivid imagery that supports the speaker’s exploration of the nature of death and the various states that ensue. In this essay, I will explore the progression between the three phases of death (beginning, abyss, and rebirth) described within the poem, and how the poet’s use of language is adapted to embody each stage. I argue that, in the progression between the three phases, Lawrence accepts the inevitability of death, encouraging the reader to prepare themselves for death and allow for the eventual continuation of new life.

‘The Ship of Death’ is separated into ten stanzas of varying lengths, an irregular yet free structure that creates the impression that the poem is a continuous flow of thought. The poem opens with a comparison between death and autumn, and between the human body and falling fruit:

        The apples falling like great drops of dew

to bruise themselves an exit from themselves.

And it is time to go, to bid farewell

to one’s own self, and find an exit

from the fallen self.^[1] (3-7)

The use of a conceit, that draws a parallel between the human body and apples, introduces the idea that, like the seeds that exit the fallen apples, the soul will exit the body after death and, therefore, the soul is a source of new life. The speaker installs the soul with the ability to make a conscious decision to flee from the body. By anthropomorphising the soul, Lawrence introduces the idea that, much like ‘the ship of death’, the human body is merely a vessel for transporting the soul, and consciousness and humanity are contained within an entity that can exist outside the human body. The semantic field of nature emphasises the vulnerability and beauty of existence, while the short lengths of the first four stanzas of the poem reflect the ephemerality of life.

The poem then progresses on to the next stage of death: oblivion. Lawrence describes oblivion as ‘the dark and endless ocean of the end' (35). The semantic field of nature is continued here, however, the aspect of nature explored in this metaphor is more powerful and devastating than the ‘apples’ described previously, and the adjectives ‘dark’ and ‘endless’ support the increased sense of fear in this new stage of death. The speaker instructs the reader to ‘build your ship of death, your little ark’ (38). Lawrence uses a biblical reference to Noah’s Ark in the Book of Genesis in the Bible. The allusion to Noah’s Ark creates the impression that, much like the water in the parable, oblivion is a cleansing power that separates the good from the wicked. The adjective ‘little’ undermines the importance of the ship, while the use of tautology enforces the idea that the poem is a stream of consciousness, and represents the deterioration of brain function that coincides with old age.