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In Trouble and Shame by D. H. Lawrence

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A speaker gazes at a sunset and envisions stepping through it like a doorway, shedding their body, shame, and pain like a traveler leaving behind their bags.

Poet
D. H. Lawrence
Core theme
Despair
The PoemFull text

In Trouble and Shame

D. H. Lawrence

I LOOK at the swaling sunset And wish I could go also Through the red doors beyond the black-purple bar. I wish that I could go Through the red doors where I could put off My shame like shoes in the porch, My pain like garments, And leave my flesh discarded lying Like luggage of some departed traveller Gone one knows not where. Then I would turn round, And seeing my cast-off body lying like lumber, I would laugh with joy.

Public domain

Sourced from Project Gutenberg

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§01Quick summary

What this poem is about

A speaker gazes at a sunset and envisions stepping through it like a doorway, shedding their body, shame, and pain like a traveler leaving behind their bags. Once liberated from their physical form, they imagine glancing back at the abandoned body and laughing with relief. It’s a brief, powerful poem about the desire to break free from suffering — not necessarily by dying, but by finding a profound release.

§02Themes

Recurring themes

§03Line by line

Stanza by stanza, with notes

  1. I LOOK at the swaling sunset / And wish I could go also

    Editor's note

    The speaker observes a **swaling** sunset as it burns and fades, feeling an immediate pull toward it. The word "also" carries subtle weight here—it suggests that the light is leaving, and the speaker wishes to follow. This sunset isn't merely a beautiful view; it's a way out.

  2. I wish that I could go / Through the red doors where I could put off

    Editor's note

    The sunset's colours solidify into a picture: **red doors** against a **black-purple bar** (the horizon). Lawrence piles up three burdens the speaker wishes to discard — shame, pain, and the body itself. The similes are relatable and calm: shame feels like shoes left on a porch, pain like an old coat. The body is described as "luggage of some departed traveller / Gone one knows not where" — the soul has already departed; the flesh is merely unclaimed baggage.

  3. Then I would turn round, / And seeing my cast-off body lying like lumber,

    Editor's note

    The final three lines pack an emotional punch. The liberated self turns around, glances at the cast-off body — now just **lumber**, lifeless wood — and bursts into laughter. There’s no sorrow here, no heaviness. The laughter is key: freedom from shame and physical pain is envisioned as simple, genuine joy.

§04Tone & mood

How this poem feels

The tone begins weary and longing, then quickly shifts to something nearly giddy by the final line. Lawrence uses straightforward language and tactile imagery—shoes, garments, luggage—which prevents the poem from feeling morbid or overly dramatic. The joy at the end is sincere, not ironic, and that's what gives the poem its emotional impact.

§05Symbols & metaphors

Symbols & metaphors

The sunset / red doors
The sunset serves as both a literal event and a threshold — a gateway from the physical world. Describing it as **red doors** transforms a natural occurrence into an architectural passage, something you have the option to step through.
The black-purple bar
The dark line on the horizon serves as a wall between the world of the living and whatever lies beyond. It keeps the speaker away from the freedom they long for.
Shoes and garments
Shame and pain are portrayed as everyday clothing — items you can just leave at the door. This familiar setting makes the idea of letting go feel achievable instead of imaginary.
Luggage of a departed traveller
The body is like forgotten luggage, suggesting that the true self — the traveler — has already moved on. The physical form is secondary, not fundamental.
Lumber
Dead, useless wood. By the final stanza, the body has shifted from being luggage to mere lumber — reduced to something without purpose, left only to be discarded.

§06Form & structure

Form & structure

Meter
free verse

§07Historical context

Historical context

Lawrence wrote this poem during a time of significant personal and physical hardship. He battled tuberculosis for much of his adult life, dealing with chronic pain, exhaustion, and the social stigma associated with the disease in the early twentieth century. The word "shame" in the poem likely reflects this struggle—the bodily humiliation of illness mingling with any sense of moral failing. Additionally, Lawrence often found himself at odds with censors, critics, and the British establishment due to his writing, which added a layer of public shame to his private suffering. The poem was included in his 1916 collection *Amores*, a work deeply focused on emotional and physical pain. Considering this context, the desire to escape the confines of his body feels less like a wish for death and more like a heartfelt yearning for relief.

§08FAQ

Questions readers ask

Is this poem about wanting to die?

It's about seeking to escape pain and shame instead of a simple desire for death. The speaker envisions leaving the body behind like you would with luggage — emphasizing the relief of freedom rather than death itself. The last image is laughter, not sorrow.

What does 'swaling' mean?

Swaling is a dialect term from the English Midlands, where Lawrence grew up. It refers to burning or singeing, often in the context of controlled moorland fires. In this case, it captures the sunset as a self-consuming blaze, burning brightly.

What is the 'black-purple bar'?

It's the dark line on the horizon at sunset, the space in the sky between the fiery colors above and the earth below. Lawrence transforms it into a threshold or barrier—the thing that separates the speaker from the freedom that lies beyond.

Why does the speaker laugh at the end?

Because the release is envisioned as pure joy, not sadness. Seeing the body lying there like discarded wood — free from all the shame and pain it bore — the liberated self feels nothing but relief. The laughter captures the entire emotional essence of the poem.

What does 'shame' refer to in this poem?

Lawrence keeps things vague, and that choice seems intentional. It probably stems from his experience with tuberculosis, which was heavily stigmatized back then, but it also reflects a wider feeling of humiliation — the shame of being stuck in a body that’s suffering and failing, along with the potential backlash against his writing.

What is the structure and form of the poem?

The poem consists of three stanzas that vary in length and lacks a consistent rhyme scheme or meter—it's written in free verse. Lawrence employs repetition with phrases like "I wish" and "I could go" to convey a feeling of longing. As the poem progresses, the stanzas shorten, creating a sudden and impactful ending.

What collection is this poem from?

It was published in Amores (1916), which means "loves" in Latin. However, many of the poems in this collection explore themes of pain, loss, and emotional conflict just as much as they do love.

How does Lawrence use imagery in this poem?

He ties abstract feelings to very concrete, everyday objects: shoes left on a porch, clothes laid aside, a traveler’s luggage, a plank of lumber. This keeps the poem grounded and prevents it from drifting into vagueness or sentimentality. The contrast between these simple images and the expansive, blazing sunset creates tension in the poem.

Citation

Cite this poem

MLA

Lawrence, D. H. "In Trouble and Shame." Storgy, https://storgy.com/poems/in-trouble-and-shame-d-h-lawrence/.

APA

Lawrence, D. H. (n.d.). In trouble and shame. Storgy. https://storgy.com/poems/in-trouble-and-shame-d-h-lawrence/

TeacherAP Lit Q1 scaffold — preview

Row A — Thesis

1 pt

In 'In Trouble and Shame,' D. H. Lawrence uses the speaker's longing to dissolve into the sunset as a vehicle for arguing that the body is not a home but a burden — a site of accumulated shame and pain from which the self desperately seeks …

  • Row B — Evidence + Commentary4 pts
  • Row C — Sophistication1 pt
  • Common student errors
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