Summery of the poem 'The Last Lesson' by D H Lawrence

 

POem "The Last Lesson"

 

D. H. Lawrence's sonnet, "Evening in School: The Last Lesson," shows up in his assortment, named Love Poems. The assortment coordinates the sonnets into three segments: Love Poems, Dialect Poems, and The Schoolmaster. This sonnet, "Evening in School: The Last Lesson," shows up in the part, "The Schoolmaster." This assortment was distributed in New York by Mitchell Kinerley in 1915.

 

This two-refrain variant of the sonnet is Lawrence's last update of the sonnet. Lamentably, a previous draft of this sonnet including six refrains is generally scattered on the web, and that variant is substandard compared to the two-verse adaptation. I recommend that on the off chance that you experience the six-refrain adaptation, if it's not too much trouble, disregard it for the two-verse variant, presented in this article and here in the 1915 distribution.

This sonnet contains a few rimes that are dissipated all through the four developments. Reasonable the rimes happen rather unintentionally, and don't, indeed, ascend to the level of a genuine "plot." These apparently indiscriminate rimes play well in sensationalizing the absolute weariness of the instructor.

 

(If it's not too much trouble, note: The spelling, "rhyme," was brought into English by Dr. Samuel Johnson through an etymological mistake. For my clarification for utilizing just the first structure, if it's not too much trouble, see "Rime versus Rhyme: An Unfortunate Error.")

 

                        The Last Lesson

         

When will the chime ring, and end this exhaustion?

How long have they pulled the rope, and stressed separated

My bunch of rowdy dogs: I can't begin

Them again on a quarry of information they would rather not chase,

I can pull them and urge them no more.

No more would i be able to suffer to endure the worst part

Of the books that lie out on the work areas: an entire three score

Of a few abuses of blotched pages and scribbling

Of messy work that they have offered me.

I'm debilitated, and tired more than any bondage

Upon the woodstacks working weariedly.

What's more, will I take

The last dear fuel and stack it on my spirit

Till I energize my will like a fire to devour

Their dross of lack of interest, and consume the parchment

Of their affronts in discipline? - I will not!

I won't squander myself to ashes for them,

Not just for them will the flames of my life be hot,

For myself a stack of remains of exhaustion, till rest

Will have raked the ashes clear: I will keep

A portion of my solidarity for myself, for in the event that I should sell

Everything for them, I should abhor them -

- I will sit and sit tight for the chime.

 

Commentary

 

The teacher in "Afternoon in School: The Last Lesson" is dramatizing the uninspired performance of his lackluster students and then vows to himself to cease torturing his own soul by wasting of his time and effort in trying to instruct them.

 

First Stanza: Student Dogs

 

When will the bell ring, and end this weariness?

How long have they tugged the leash, and strained apart

My pack of unruly hounds: I cannot start

Them again on a quarry of knowledge they hate to hunt,

I can haul them and urge them no more,

No more can I endure to bear the brunt

Of the books that lie out on the desks: a full three score

Of several insults of blotted pages and scrawl

Of slovenly work that they have offered me.

I am sick and tired more than any thrall

Upon the woodstacks working weariedly.

 

The scenario described in this poem begins and ends with the teacher himself eagerly awaiting the bell that will eventually ring and end a boring, lifeless class.

 

The speaker compares his uninspired students to dogs that pull on the leash trying to free themselves from his instruction. They do not want to learn, and he does not want to continue trying to teach them. This teacher comes to the conclusion that he can no longer keep up this charade of teaching and learning that is not happening. He desires to free himself from this the same cage that he deems these students so unwillingly occupy.

 

This teacher does not have the patience or love for the young to teach; he is weary, and he cannot empathize with these students who can muster only a lackluster performance. He loathes facing the many papers with badly written scrawls that disgust him. His sixty charges have handed in to him "slovenly work," and he is bone tired of having to confront it. The speaker asserts that it does him no service, but it also does not serve his students as well. The speaker declares that it does not matter, if they are able to write about what they lack interest in anyway. He finds it all pointless. He bitterly complains repeatedly about the ultimate purpose of all this activity.

Second Stanza: Unjustified Expenditure of Energy

 

And shall I take

The last dear fuel and heap it on my soul

Till I rouse my will like a fire to consume

Their dross of indifference, and burn the scroll

Of their insults in punishment? - I will not!

I will not waste myself to embers for them,

Not all for them shall the fires of my life be hot,

For myself a heap of ashes of weariness, till sleep

Shall have raked the embers clear: I will keep

Some of my strength for myself, for if I should sell

It all for them, I should hate them -

- I will sit and wait for the bell.

 

The speaker then assumes that even if he commits all of his energy of efforts to these students, he cannot justify to himself the expenditure of that energy. His very soul is being wasted in attempts to teach the unteachable. He senses that he is being insulted by the students’ lack of motivation and desire to achieve.

 

The speaker has determined that there is no value in struggling to impart knowledge to a bunch of seemingly braindead urchins who possess not a shred of desire to acquire an education. This teacher proclaims his intention to stop using up his soul power in vain attempts to teach these recalcitrant unteachables. He looks fate in the eye and finds that no matter what he does, no matter what they do, it all goes down to the same nothingness. Whether he teachers or not, it does not matter. Whether they learn or not, it does not matter.

 

The bored teacher likens his life to "embers" of a fire that is slowly burning out. And he insists that he will not allow himself to become a simple ash heap from burning himself out while attempting to accomplish the impossible. If sleep will rake the embers clear, he will, instead, save his energy for more worthwhile activities that will actually enhance his life, instead of draining it of vitality. The speaker implies that as a teacher, he is obligated to assume responsibly with all his strength, but by doing so, he wastes himself on a futile mission. Thus, he makes a vow to himself to cease this purposeless activity. Nothing he does can influence these poor souls, so why, he asks himself, should he continue to do it? Why torture himself as he tortures the undeliverable?

 

The speaker/teacher can no longer care, if, in fact, he ever did. He feels that the effort is not worth it. He must move on. Vaguely, he implies that teachers are born, not made. The disgruntled teacher has landed on his perfect thought. Like the students who resist learning, he has become the teacher who will resist teaching. He will "sit and wait for the bell," just as his students are doing. If they do not want to learn, then he concludes, why should he want to teach? He is tried of wasting his efforts on a futile activity. The battle between unwilling student and unenthusiastic teacher ends in a stalemate. The image of them both sitting and waiting for the bell to ring signals a rather sad scenario of futility.

Alliteration in Lawrence's "Afternoon in School: The Last Lesson"

 

In the first stanza of D. H. Lawrence's "Afternoon in School: The Last Lesson," the following lines contain what, upon first impression, might be considered "alliteration." The initial consonants are capitalized, bolded, and italicized for easy recognition:

 

Line 1: When Will the bell ring, and end this Weariness?

Lines 4 and 5: they Hate to Hunt, / I can Haul them

Lines 6 and 7: to Bear the Brunt / Of the Books

Lines 7, 8, and 9: Score / Of Several insults of blotted pages and Scrawl / Of Slovenly

Line 11: Woodstacks Working Weariedly

 

Despite the obvious repetition of initial consonantal sound, the poetic purpose for the use of alliteration is not fulfilled in any of those consonant groups, and therefore I suggest that true poetic alliteration is not actually employed in this poem.

 

Poets/writers employ "alliteration" in both poetry and prose in order to create a musically rhythmic sound. Alliterative sound renders to the flow of words a beauty which attracts the auditory nerves making the language both more enjoyable and more easily remembered. None of this is happening in Lawrence's lines with the supposed alliteration, especially lines 4-5, 6-7, and 7-8-9, which spill over onto the next line, thus separating the alliterative group.