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SUBMERGENCE by D. H. Lawrence

Summary, meaning, line-by-line analysis & FAQ.

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A grieving speaker strolls through a bustling street, momentarily distracted from their sorrow by the crowd around them.

Poet
D. H. Lawrence
Themes
loneliness, memory, nature
The PoemFull text

SUBMERGENCE

D. H. Lawrence

WHEN along the pavement, Palpitating flames of life, People flicker round me, I forget my bereavement, The gap in the great constellation, The place where a star used to be. Nay, though the pole-star Is blown out like a candle, And all the heavens are wandering in disarray, Yet when pleiads of people are Deployed around me, and I see The street's long outstretched Milky Way, When people flicker down the pavement, I forget my bereavement.

Public domain

Sourced from Project Gutenberg

§01Quick summary

What this poem is about

A grieving speaker strolls through a bustling street, momentarily distracted from their sorrow by the crowd around them. The poem employs star imagery to convey the overwhelming nature of their grief — akin to a star disappearing from the sky — yet the vibrant, flickering presence of strangers provides a fleeting respite. It's a brief, heartfelt reflection on how the outside world can offer us a moment of relief from the pain we bear within.

§02Themes

Recurring themes

§03Line by line

Stanza by stanza, with notes

  1. WHEN along the pavement, / Palpitating flames of life,

    Editor's note

    The speaker paints a picture of a bustling street. The word *palpitating* — which means throbbing or quivering — instantly brings the crowd to life, adding a sense of physical energy. People aren’t merely walking; they’re radiating with vitality. This introduction immerses us in movement and feeling before we even grasp its significance.

  2. Nay, though the pole-star / Is blown out like a candle,

    Editor's note

    Here, the speaker fully recognizes the magnitude of the loss. The pole-star serves as the constant point that sailors and travelers rely on for navigation—without it, one loses all sense of direction. Describing it as *blown out like a candle* transforms something vast into something unexpectedly delicate and commonplace. The entire stanza amplifies the sorrow: the very heavens are thrown into turmoil, yet this overwhelming inner chaos finds a momentary comfort in the crowd, envisioned as the Pleiades star cluster and the Milky Way stretching down the street.

  3. When people flicker down the pavement, / I forget my bereavement.

    Editor's note

    The poem concludes by echoing its opening lines nearly verbatim — creating a purposeful loop that reflects the nature of grief: you experience a brief moment of relief, only to find yourself back at the beginning. This repetition isn’t just a shortcut; it’s essential to the message. The forgetting may feel genuine, but it’s fleeting, and the poem’s circular form illustrates that reality.

§04Tone & mood

How this poem feels

The tone is soft and gentle instead of dramatic. Lawrence doesn’t scream or lash out — he watches quietly, almost with gratitude. There’s a delicate awe in how the crowd transforms into a galaxy, and a sincere acknowledgment that the relief is simply forgetting, not true healing. The poem feels like a breath held and then gradually released.

§05Symbols & metaphors

Symbols & metaphors

The pole-star
The pole-star is the unchanging navigational point in the night sky — the one star that remains still. Here, it symbolizes the person who has passed away: the one constant around which the speaker has oriented their life. Its disappearance means complete disorientation, not just sorrow.
The gap in the great constellation
A constellation missing a star is still recognizable, yet it feels fundamentally altered. This image illustrates how grief transforms our reality—life goes on, but there's a noticeable void that remains unfilled.
Flickering people / flames of life
The crowd is likened to flames and stars—both sources of light and both in motion. They symbolize the relentless, indifferent energy of the living world, into which the speaker can momentarily dive to find solace.
The Milky Way / Pleiades
By mapping star clusters onto the street and its crowd, Lawrence brings the cosmic and the everyday closer together. The universe that carries the speaker's grief also encompasses this vibrant human life — and for a moment, they can blend.

§06Historical context

Historical context

Lawrence penned many of his grief poems following his mother Lydia's death in December 1910, a loss he called the defining wound of his early life. His collection *Look! We Have Come Through!* (1917) and the earlier *Amores* (1916) both feature poems that explore grief and the quest for renewal. "Submergence" fits perfectly into this theme. Lawrence was also significantly inspired by Walt Whitman's belief that crowds and the physical world could offer spiritual healing — viewing the street as a sort of secular church. Between 1910 and 1916, urban life in England was rapidly evolving, and the image of a bustling pavement filled with strangers held a distinct modern significance: anonymous, electric, and oddly comforting to someone who felt completely isolated.

§07FAQ

Questions readers ask

Lawrence doesn't specify who the person is, but the imagery — particularly the *pole-star* being extinguished — suggests someone who served as the speaker's constant source of love and guidance. Scholars of Lawrence frequently associate poems like this with the death of his mother, Lydia Lawrence, in 1910. However, the poem can also be interpreted as a reaction to any significant personal loss.

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More by D. H. Lawrence

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Themes in this poem

Poems about lonelinessPoems about memoryPoems about naturePoems about sorrow