Piano Analysis - Literary devices and Poetic devices

Piano

By D. H. Lawrence

Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.
In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.
So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour
With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

Meanings of Piano

The poem ‘Piano’ presents the speaker listening to music and recalling his childhood. The poem presents the main idea of memories, the role of memories when enjoying music and nostalgia associated with it.

Meanings of Stanza -1

Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.

The speaker states that he is enjoying the music of a woman singing specifically for him. This music takes him years back to when he was a child. He recalls that he used to sit under the piano of his mother, who sang at that time. The tingling strings played music. The interesting point came when he mentions his mother’s “small, poised” feet to point to her beauty. This stanza not only adds to the overall meaning of the recalling of memories, but it also shows the memory of childhood and the nostalgia associated with it.

Meanings of Stanza -2

In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.

Here, the speaker is a tough person. Despite this, the mastery of the music brings him back, and he becomes nostalgic about his past. The is good, but its mastery is insidious because it betrays his memory and brings him back to this reality. His heart longs to have the same old Sunday evenings at home during the winter season. His mother used to tinkle with the piano in the cozy parlor of their home to sing hymns for him. The description of the scene of his childhood is so powerful that it makes him declare this mastery of the song as insidious for him. The stanza further adds to the main idea of music, memories, and childhood.

Meanings of Stanza -3

So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour
With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

The speaker states that now it is useful for a singer to sing loudly when there is a brilliant piano player alongside. The speaker is under the glamor and spell of the childhood memory of those times. He states that his manhood is now under the flood of memories of childhood when his mother used to sing hymns for him on their piano. Now he can only cry for the past as those days could not return for him. The speaker adds a tinge of anguish to the nostalgia for his past.

Summary of Piano

Popularity of “Piano”: The poem ‘Piano’ written by David Herbert Lawrence, a great English poet and writer, is a lyrical poetic piece. It was published in his collection, Love Poems, and Others, in 1913. The poem is about a man reminiscing about his childhood. It illustrates how he wishes to dart back in time when he hears a woman singing while playing the piano. The authentic depiction of the speaker’s relationship to his past and its realistic comparison to his adulthood enhances the poem’s allure for readers.
“Piano” As a Representative of Sorrow: The poem explores the childhood memories of the speaker and their relation with his present-day life. The event unfolds as the speaker directs attention to a woman who captivates with her singing and piano playing. It transports him to a bygone era where he catches sight of a child hiding beneath the piano. The mother of the child sings to the melody that he plays in order to support him. Presently, the woman’s singing brings him both pleasure and pain. At first, he gets captivated by her melodious voice, but the charm disappears when the same melody makes him dive deep into the time he wishes to forget. He remembers how he used to spend time with this musical equipment. These thoughts corrode his present-day joy and make him long for a time that can never be reversed.
Major Themes in “Piano”: The role of memories in one’s life, the nostalgic impact of music, and sadness are the major themes of the poem. Throughout the poem, the speaker tries to establish that no matter how far we go in life, we feel a strange belonging and attachment to our childhood. The description shows that the speaker shared a candid relationship with his mother, who is perhaps no longer with him. Therefore, the woman’s melody cast a nostalgic impact on him; it evokes a strong emotional response in him due to which the lines between present and past become blurred.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Piano

literary devices are tools used by the writers to give deeper meanings to their poetic efforts. D. H. Lawrence also used some literary devices whose analysis is as follows.

Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /i/ in “To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside” and the sound of /ai/ in “ I weep like a child for the past”.
Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /w/ in “with winter outside” and the sound of /s/ in “smiles as she sings”.
Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /s/ and the sound of /n/ in “Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me”.
Caesura: It is a break or pause in the middle of a line of verse. These breaks can be towards the beginning, middle, or the end of a line, such as “With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour”.
Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example,

A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.

Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. D. H. Lawrence used imagery in this poem, such as “A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings”, “I weep like a child for the past” and “Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me”.
Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet used singing as an extended metaphor to show how memories keep on haunting people in life.
Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The singing of the child symbolizes the memories he desires to relive.
Simile: It is a device used to compare something with something else to make the meanings clear to the readers. Lawrence uses this device at the end of the poem, such as “I weep like a child for the past.”

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Piano

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. D. H Lawrence used end rhyme in this poem such as; “outside/guide”, “cast/past” and “song/belong.”
Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here, every stanza is a quatrain.
Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows an AABB rhyme scheme, and this pattern continues till the end.
Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are three stanzas in this poem, with each comprising three verses.

Quotes to be Used

These lines from “Piano” are useful to use in lectures or speeches when presenting the role of memories and the past in one’s life.