Gloire de Dijon
Gloire de Dijon
Original Text
D. H. Lawrence, Look! We Have Come Through! (London: Chatto and Windus, 1917): 56. PR 6023 A93 L6 Robarts Library. Roberts A10.
2I linger to watch her;
3She spreads the bath-cloth underneath the window
4And the sunbeams catch her
5Glistening white on the shoulders,
6While down her sides the mellow
7Golden shadow glows as
8She stoops to the sponge, and her swung breasts
9Sway like full-blown yellow
10Gloire de Dijon roses.
11She drips herself with water, and her shoulders
12Glisten as silver, they crumple up
13Like wet and falling roses, and I listen
14For the sluicing of their rain-dishevelled petals.
15In the window full of sunlight
16Concentrates her golden shadow
17Fold on fold, until it glows as
18Mellow as the glory roses.
Notes
1] Title: "glory of Dijon" (from the name of a town in France where it was developed in 1853), a yellow hybrid tea rose (OED, which cites another use by Lawrence in Lady Chatterley's Lover [1928]).
Gilbert suggests that Lawrence writes this poem about Frieda his beloved (102). Back to Line
Gilbert suggests that Lawrence writes this poem about Frieda his beloved (102). Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1914
Publication Notes
Poetry (Jan. 1914)
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 2000.
Rhyme