Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Secular or Eclectic 20th Century	About D. H. Lawrence Timeline (1885 - 1930)
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Original Language English	I Am Like a Rose
Commentary by Ivan M. Granger Themes   Fire   Rose         Recommended Books Acts of Attention: The Poems of D. H. Lawrence, by D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts and Flowers: Poems, by D. H. Lawrence The Complete Poems of D. H. Lawrence, by D. H. Lawrence Engendering Inspiration: Visionary Strategies in Rilke, Lawrence, and H.D., by Helen Sword The Selected Poems of D. H. Lawrence, by D. H. Lawrence More >>	I am myself at last; now I achieve My very self, I, with the wonder mellow, Full of fine warmth, I issue forth in clear And single me, perfected from my fellow. Here I am all myself. No rose-bush heaving Its limpid sap to culmination has brought Itself more sheer and naked out of the green In stark-clear roses, than I to myself am brought.     -- from The Complete Poems of D. H. Lawrence, by D. H. Lawrence Amazon.com
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

This poem can almost be read as a meditation on nonduality and the true nature of the singular Self.

Whether or not this understanding is part of his original intention in the poem, Lawrence beatifully describes the sense of settling into the true Self. He proclaims, "I am myself at last..." This is the feeling of it. You finally recognize what has always been present, most intimate, the foundation of everything. The "you" you thought of as yourself has faded like a ghost, and you discover the real You, the solid You, that has been quietly waiting to be noticed.

Often this awareness is accompanied by a delightful sense of heat, a joyous fire smoldering in the body, a "fine warmth" indeed.

I love his lines about bringing himself "sheer and naked out of the green" like a "rose-bush heaving / Its limpid sap to culmination" ... "In stark-clear roses." The true Self flowers while standing naked and "stark-clear". It needs nothing to clothe itself or hide behind. The Self is too immense and free to be anything other than it is. It knows itself as it is and requires no false mask of appearance, so it stands joyful, singular, clear, naked, with contented "wonder mellow."

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
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