Question

Summary of the poem Butterfly by D H Lawrence

Answer 1

     The narrator of D.H. Lawrence’s Butterfly seems to be a man, probably D.H. himself, in a scene that takes place in his garden. The literal audience seems to be a big, white butterfly. The only simile I found was “will you climb up on your big soft wings, black-dotted, as up an invisible rainbow, an arch” (lines 9-10). It is used here to help create an image of how the butterfly might fly away from him. The poem could be symbolic. The butterfly could represent either a person with whom he is observing or in a relationship with. It could also just be serving as an object to talk to as the narrator goes through a self-realization.  I think several different meanings can be interpreted by the imagery and words used in this poem. The relationship between the poem’s title and the poem is pretty evident. The poem is  called “Butterfly” and he is talking to a butterfly.