POEM REVIEW – D H LAWRENCE – BIBBLES

Bibbles was a dog that followed Lawrence around for a time during his travels in Mexico. He described it as small, and black, brindle in colour. Occasionally, Lawrence’s descriptions of people here will come across as somewhat racist to modern audiences though they were probably in keeping with social attitudes of his day when political correctness and oral sensitivities were in their infancy.

The dog was mischievous, and seemed to be ridiculously playful ad affectionate to everyone it encountered, including a Mexican woman who hated the sight of it.  Lawrence’s poem reflects his jealousy and envy of the dog’s endless energy, cheerful enthusiasm and optimistic outlook on life, gaining fun and pleasure from every day in life and finding no fault with anyone it ever meets.

Lawrence insults the dog, and yet even he seems to be a little under its spell. It seems to enjoy eating and regurgitating anything, even food abandoned as inedible by the humans.

Bibbles has no Master. Lawrence felt owned by the dog rather than the other way round – sentiments shared by many a dog-owner for sure.  Even the very sentimental name Bibbles has a mellow side underlying the aggressive surface tone of this slightly tongue in cheek poem.

Bibbles had no favourites among the people who fed him and played with him, abandoning one for another easily, with ease no human could ever attain. To Lawrence, the dog reflects the cruelty of the human condition, where relationships and affection have to be worked for, and often lead to bitter disappointment.

Lawrence took a certain degree of sadistic glee in seeing the dog manage to make a few enemies among other stray dogs who fight him off and make him realize that he has an enemy – something no people managed to achieve for Bibbles. .

A fun poem with serious undertones or a hard reflection on life focussed on a silly little dog> the poem can be read either way.

Arthur Chappell.