The Mind
Narcissus
From New Poems (1918)
Where the minnows trace
A glinting web quick hid in the gloom of the brook,
When I think of the place
And remember the small lad lying intent to look
Through the shadowy face
At the little fish thread-threading the watery nook--
It seems to me
The woman you are should be nixie, there is a pool
Where we ought to be.
You undine-clear and pearly, soullessly cool
And waterly
The pool for my limbs to fathom, my soul's last school.
Narcissus
Ventured so long ago in the deeps of reflection.
Illyssus
Broke the bounds and beyond!--Dim recollection
Of fishes
Soundlessly moving in heaven's other direction!
Be
Undine towards the waters, moving back;
For me
A pool! Put off the soul you've got, oh lack
Your human self immortal; take the watery track.
Codex Note
Beginning with the speaker's memory of a small lad lying by a brook to look at his own face, the poem addresses the lad's 'human self immortal', and ends with a call to 'take the watery track'.
Cite this poem
MLA
Lawrence, D. H. “Narcissus.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/lawrence/19/.
Chicago
Lawrence, D. H. “Narcissus.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/lawrence/19/.
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