POETRY REVIEW D H LAWRENCE TORTOISE GALLANTRY

In the second to last of his six tortoise poems based on his own eyewitness observations, Lawrence continues to observe the mating struggles of two tortoises, one male, and the female who seems to be trying her best to avoid and ignore him.

The famale is unconcerned and unthreatened by the male who follows her wuth a dogged, relentless determination to mate with her. He bites her feet and tries to pull her legs up to be able to get underneath her. She just keeps walking on.

The male persistantly crashes into her, but still she strides on, giving the poet a sense of his heroic, stoic martyrdom in his obsession. He is clearly not going to give up easily.

Lawrence begins to feel guilty about continiuing to watch this delicate mating ritual. He feels as if he is voyeuristically spying on their intimacy, but having watched this far, he feels obliged to see the events through to their conclusion. He maintains his vigil.

Arthur Chappell