The Dark Ecological Consciousness In The Poems Of D.H. Lawrence

D. H. Lawrence is a great poet as well as a great novelist. His name as a great novelist is known almost to everyone, but his name as a great poet is still to be known to many. The point is that it is in his poems that he speaks his mind which he pondered over more that 20 years, and it is in his poems that some of his reflections are expressed for either the first time or the only time. According to Lawrence, poems are a record of his innermost emotional life, it follows that they must be a crystallization of his intuitive understandings and philosophical perceptions of natural lives. Such being the background, this thesis attempts to make a comprehensive study of the dark ecological consciousness in D. H.Lawrence's poems. The interpreting of his poems is based on meticulous scrutiny in the framework of theories of ecological criticism, with reference to contemporary ecological poetry and to the discoveries in archeology, anthropology, and natural sciences. Lawrence's dark ecological consciousness, in essence, is a profound life consciousness, which serves both as the point of departure and as the point of stand for him to perceive things. The three major themes Lawrence deliberates on in his poems?"savages", animals, and death?are the aspects in which he intimates his concern for life. His abandonment of Christian monotheism and his conversion to the primitive religion of nature practised by the"savages"are for the purpose of modifying the relationship between self and nature so as to enhance the liveliness and prosperity of natural lives; his affirmation and understanding of the"lower"and"verminous"species, and his advocacy and lineation of equality between humans and animals broaden our scope of imaginative response to life, thus inspiring respect in us for every animal and awe of every form of life; his challenge and negation of immortality, his approval of and praise for natural violence are the outcome of his deliberation on the death-life cycle, which is a guarantee of the ever-greenness of the tree of life. In discussing the essence of D. H. Lawrence's dark ecological consciousness this thesis has made breakthroughs in the following aspects:Putting forward and demonstrating the core concept that Lawrence's is a dark ecological consciousness. Whereas the generally-acknowledged green ecological consciousness can hardly represent, to its full extent, the pro-active, profound and unique nature of D. H. Lawrence's ecological consciousness, a dark ecological consciousness can embody the connotations of his ecological consciousness since it boasts breadth of theme coverage, depth of connotations and his anti-traditional preference for dark colours in representing life and its vitality. Using contemporary ecological poetry as a frame of reference to study D. H. Lawrence's poems. The contemporary ecological poetry is undoubtedly the frontier of human thinking on contemporary ecology. Some of its ideas can find their roots in Lawrence's poems. This retrospective perspective does not only bear out the pro-activeness and profundity of Lawrence's ecological consciousness, but it also demonstrates its vitality in the contemporary ecological context, and this is where their very value and significance consist.Introducing spatial narrative theories in the interpretation of poems. As Lawrence is a novelist and poet with a strong sense of place and space, his space consciousness, let us term it this way, finds expression best in his poems. Therefore, introducing principles and strategies evolved out of spatial narrative theories into the interpretation of Lawrence's poems will not only break through the traditional practice of interpreting his poems under the framework of temporal narrative but also enable his dark ecological consciousness to transpire in a spatial dimension.Clarifying the biased concept of anthropomorphism commonly practised in ecological criticism and affirming the ecological value and significance of anthropomorphism in Lawrence's poems. Anthropomorphism under Lawrence's pen depicts not only the heterogeneity of animals as subject but also reveals the homogeneity between humans and animals. The latter is the grounds on which humans and animals are not only equal but also empathetic to each other. That is to say, even in terms of anthropomorphism, which is subject to association with anthropocentrism, Lawrence's dark ecological consciousness can prove to be self-evident.Propounding and proving that soul under Lawrence's pen possesses a materialistic property and his soul immortality is predicated upon scientific discoveries?contrary to scholars'idealistic definition of his soul immortality. Counting on Lawrence's preference for fire souls, it is to be concluded that Lawrence's concept of souls goes beyond human souls and pointing towards all souls of the earthlings and it is at this point that Lawrence's faith in soul immortality merges with his animism. Such being the grounds, soul immortality in Lawrence's poems means the immortality of all souls of the earthlings. Lawrence's belief in soul immortality thus contains profound and unmatched values of ecological ethics.The significance of this study is embodied in the revelation for the ecological reality, the revelation for ecological writing, and the revelation for redefining Lawrence's cultural position.