Drunk

Discussion Questions — Drunk by D. H. Lawrence

1. Close reading / AQA AO2 | AP close reading: How does Lawrence use the specific choice of flowering trees — hawthorn, lilac, and laburnum — to structure the speaker's hallucinatory journey? What does the progression from one flower to the next suggest about the escalating intensity of his longing?

1. Tone & voice / IB guiding question: The poem's tone has been described as moving through layers — from woozy tenderness to feverish desire to dignified faithfulness. How does Lawrence signal each of these tonal shifts, and what does this arc reveal about the relationship between intoxication and genuine emotion?

1. Symbolism / AQA AO2 | AP close reading: The arc-lamps are described as agents that transform the street into a "phantom show." What does this artificial light symbolise in the poem, and how does it complicate the boundary between what is real and what is projected by the speaker's desire?

1. Theme — loneliness / IB guiding question: The image of couples walking side by side on the pavement contrasts with the speaker's solitary hallucinations in the trees above. How does Lawrence use this juxtaposition to deepen the poem's exploration of loneliness, and why might he have included actual other people rather than leaving the speaker entirely alone?

1. Authorial intent / AQA AO3 | AP context: Lawrence was writing during a period of personal loss and emotional upheaval, drawing on Whitman's candour about the body and the Georgian poets' love of nature. In what ways does Drunk go further than either of those influences, and what might Lawrence have aimed to achieve by pushing those boundaries?

1. Close reading — symbolism / AQA AO2: The red hawthorn blossoms are associated with blood and flags, suggesting love as a kind of battlefield. How does this militaristic imagery sit alongside the poem's more tender and erotic moments, and what does it imply about the nature of desire in Drunk?

1. Theme — memory and absence / IB guiding question: Throughout the poem, the absent lover functions as both an anchor and a source of instability. How does Lawrence present the tension between the speaker's need for his lover's grounding presence and the wild, ungovernable visions that her absence produces?

1. Language and form / AQA AO2 | AP close reading: The poem is structured as a nocturne — a night-piece following a solitary walker. How does Lawrence use the setting of a lamplit suburban street at night to blur the distinction between the external, physical world and the speaker's internal emotional state?

1. Theme — love and faithfulness / IB guiding question: The poem closes with the speaker offering an unconditional pledge of fidelity, regardless of who or what his lover turns out to be. What does this ending suggest about the nature of the love Lawrence is depicting — is it idealistic, reckless, or something more complex? How does the old-fashioned word "troth" shape the reader's interpretation of this final gesture?

1. Contextual / AQA AO3 | AP context: The veil motif, associated with the lilac blossoms, invokes the traditional symbol of modesty while simultaneously highlighting what is hidden beneath it. How does Lawrence use this image to explore the tension between social convention and raw physical desire, and how might a contemporary Edwardian reader have responded to this portrayal?