D.H. Lawrence’s "Pansies" - Iconic, Controversial and Provocative
- Mar 12
- 5 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
When D.H. Lawrence sat down to write Pansies in the late 1920s, he wasn't looking to create a monument of high literature. He was looking to capture the "flicker" of a mind in motion.
Our new release is a complete edition of this vital work which focuses on the raw, electric energy of the poems themselves in a contemporary layout with a new introduction examining their modern relevance.
For the uninitiated, the title might sound delicate or floral. In reality, it is anything but.
What are DH Lawrence's "Pansies"?
The name is a brilliant literary pun. It stems from the French word pensées, meaning "thoughts." Lawrence didn't intend for these poems to be grand, formal monuments. Instead, he called them "ragged thoughts"—vivid, honest, and often bitingly satirical observations that were meant to be "snapped up" by the reader.
As Lawrence himself put it in his original 1929 introduction, a "pansy" is a thought that comes and goes, like a flower that blossoms and fades, capturing the truth of a single moment.
He didn't want the polished, "perfect" poem of the Victorian era. He wanted the "ragged" truth. As he noted in his original preface, these were poems meant to be snapped up like a quick snack, not chewed over like a heavy meal.
Pansies by D.H. Lawrence
These impulsive poems reveal Lawrence's restless mind and random reflections during his latter years. Common themes running through Pansies include:
Love and relationships
Frustration with Society and modern life
Work and Human Integrity
Human Nature
The Natural World
Some poems feel timeless in their clarity. Others reflect the debates and attitudes of Lawrence’s era—including his views on class, politics, and relationships.
While it was tempting to omit some poems that have not dated well, this is the complete work of Pansies as it was published.
Perhaps more than any other of DH Lawrence's works - it gives an unvarnished reflection of the man and his views.
The Scandalous Debut of Pansies
It is hard to believe today, but when the manuscript for Pansies was sent to his publishers in 1929, it was seized by the British postal authorities on the grounds of indecency. Lawrence was a man perpetually at war with the censors, and Pansies was no exception.
The authorities were baffled by his frankness. Lawrence wasn't being "dirty"; he was being honest. He was attacking the "bland grin" of the machine age and the stifling hypocrisy of a society that feared the body and the soul in equal measure. The reception at the time was polarized: he was either a dangerous radical or a visionary truth-teller.
Standing The Test of Time
How has Pansies weathered the century since its release? Remarkably well. While his longer novels can sometimes feel anchored to the 1920s, the "Pansies" feel like they could have been written this morning. In an age of social media and rapid-fire opinions, Lawrence’s "thoughts" feel like the original, more profound version of the modern post. He speaks to our anxiety about technology, our search for authentic connection, and our need to remain "human" in a mechanical world.
This modern presentation of an iconic piece of literature makes Lawrence's work accessible to a new generation.
A Sampler: Five Essential "Pansies" by DH Lawrence
To understand the range of this collection, we can see how Lawrence pivots from fierce social critique to tender, quiet observation. Here we present five Pansies in full to give the flavor of this thought-provoking collection.
1. Either you fight or you Die
This is Lawrence at his most bracing. He is not talking about physical warfare, but the spiritual battle for individuality. He warns that a life without the struggle for "self" is a parasitic existence—a "lily-livered" surrender. It is a call to arms for the spirit to "bust up" the status quo and tackle the corruption of money and hypocrisy.
Either you Fight or you Die It's either you fight or you die young gents, you've got no option. No good asking the reason why it's either you fight or you die die, die, lily-liveredly die or fight and make the splinters fly bust up the holy apple-pie you've got no option. Don't say you can't, start in and try; give great hypocrisy the lie and tackle the blowsy big blow-fly of money; do it or die! You've got no option. DH Lawrence
2. Sex and Trust
This poem famously highlights Lawrence's "blood" over "mind." He distinguishes between the "personal upstart" (the ego) and the "creature" (the essential self). He believed that unless there is a fundamental trust between these essential natures, the experience is hollowed out into "mere evacuation-lust".
Sex and Trust If you want to have sex, you've got to trust at the core of your heart, the other creature. The other creature, the other creature not merely the personal upstart; but the creature there, that has come to meet you; trust it you must, you must or the experience amounts to nothing, mere evacuation-lust. DH Lawrence
3. Things Men Have Made
A beautiful meditation on craftsmanship. Lawrence contrasts the "wakened hands" of a creator with the soulless output of a machine. He suggests that objects made with care hold a "life-vibration" that connects the user to the maker.
Things Men Have Made Things men have made with wakened hands, and put soft life into are awake through years with transferred touch, and go on glowing for long years. And for this reason, some old things are lovely warm still with the life of forgotten men who made them. DH Lawrence
4. All I Ask
This poem is a radical plea for "soft" connection over forced emotion. Lawrence captures the exhaustion of "insisted" love, seeking instead a natural, quiet resonance—the "unheard bells." It reflects his complex search for a relationship that is gentle and rhythmic rather than demanding or violent.
All I Ask All I ask of a woman is that she shall feel gently towards me when my heart feels kindly towards her, and there shall be the soft, soft tremor as of unheard bells between us. It is all I ask. I am so tired of violent women lashing out and insisting on being loved, when there is no love in them. DH Lawrence
5. Underneath
The perfect summary of the Pansies philosophy. Lawrence acknowledges the chaos of "busy-ness," but reminds the reader that the "life-throb"—the fundamental pulse of existence—is always there. It is a grounding, meditative directive that serves as the ultimate "hyacinth for the soul."
Underneath Below what we think we are we are something else, we are almost anything. Below the grass and trees and streets and houses and even seas is rock; and below the rock, the rock is we know not what, the hot wild core of the earth, heavier than we can even imagine. Pivotal core of the soul, heavier than iron so ponderously central; heavier and hotter than anything known; and also alone.— And yet reeling with connection spinning with the heaviness of balance and flowing invisibly, gasping towards the breathing stars and the central of all sunninesses. The earth leans its weight on the sun, and the sun on the sun of suns. Back and forth goes the balance and the electric breath. The soul of man also leans in the unconscious inclination we call religion towards the sun of suns, and back and forth goes the breath of incipient energetic life. Out of the soul's middle to the middle-most sun, way-off, or in every atom. DH Lawrence
Our new edition of Pansies by D.H. Lawrence is now available. Discover the thoughts that the world tried to ban.
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