What is the summary of D.H. Lawrence's poem "The Last Lesson of the Afternoon"?

The poem "The Last Lesson of the Afternoon" by D.H. Lawrence is about a teacher who is second-guessing his life’s work as an instructor to various students. In this six stanza poem, the poet begins by saying that the teacher is waiting for the bell to ring so that his last class and teaching lesson of the afternoon can end. It is apparent that the teacher is tired as the first line of the poem states:

“When will the bell ring, and end this weariness?”

Right away the reader knows that all is not well in this formal classroom. This teacher feels that his students are akin to a “pack of unruly hounds”. He does not want to expend any more time and energy dispensing knowledge to this group who has no interest in really pursuing knowledge. The teacher is frustrated in this poem and feels like he could do better directing his talents elsewhere - to those who have a deep interest in knowledge acquisition.

There are indications in the poem that this teacher has been involved in teaching for many years – probably decades. He says:

“So, shall I take
My last dear fuel of life to heap on my soul”

He is weary and says, in so many words, that he can no longer stand to look at school desks full of books. In addition, he can no longer stand the shoddy written foolscap or papers that these students submit to him. Furthermore, he wonders what is the point of this all – to him and the students. So, it’s evident that years of toil in the classroom have taken their toll on this teacher.

He believes that the students he teaches are indifferent (uninterested). He no longer wants to labor in trying to get them to be interested in what he teaches. He says:

“I will not waste my soul and my strength for this.”

At this point in his life, with all his accumulated teaching experience, this teacher feels it is all for naught. He believes that all his efforts, and those of his students, ends up going down the scrap heap (metaphorically speaking). He states that his teaching and his students’ learning:

"...all goes down the same abyss”

In the end, this teacher says that he no longer cares for what he does regarding the teaching profession, and he also no longer cares what the students take in. He desires that he and they expend their strength elsewhere – in new directions. Therefore, he is waiting for the afternoon school bell to mercifully put an end to this boring and unproductive “Last Lesson of the Afternoon.”

What mood does D.H. Lawrence's poem "The Last Lesson" suggest?

Impatience is the tone most strongly conveyed in the poem The Last Lesson by D.H. Lawrence.

This poem is, quite simply, about a child who cannot wait to get out of school. The ambiguous "they" that is frequently referenced is the teacher of the class, or the education system. The speaker feels very suppressed by his/her schooling and lessons. 

The speaker uses overdramatic and hyperbolic diction in order to convey how desperate he/she is to finish the last day of school:

No more can I endure to bear the brunt
Of the books that lie out on the desks: a full three score
Of several insults of blotted pages and scrawl
Of slovenly work that they have offered me.

That diction makes us empathize with the child, who clearly is suffering to be in lessons and feels like he/she is "enduring" school. The words "insult" and "slovenly" help to convey the mood of intense dislike that the student has for schoolwork, where he/she feels repulsed by the work.

I am sick, and tired more than any thrall
Upon the woodstacks working weariedly.

In those lines, the pain of physically being in school is apparently worse than the exhaustion of chopping wood, and in that moment the reader realizes just how dramatic the speaker is. While school is obviously not more tiresome than physical labor, the student's hatred of lessons makes it feel that way.

The poem ends with the statement "I will sit and wait for the bell." That concludes the rant of the student, and emphasizes that even though the student possesses an intense dislike for the school and the work, there is no other option. School is a requirement, and no matter how bad it is and how tired the student gets, they will still have to sit and wait for the release bell.

Analyze stanza 3 of "Last Lesson of the Afternoon" by D.H. Lawrence.

The poem ‘Last Lesson Of The Afternoon’ by the genius author and poet, David Herbert  Lawrence is very different from his other poetry, and indeed from much of his prose in that it lacks what experts might call ‘the poetry in the prose.’ This may be symptomatic of a change of mood in Lawrence, an absence of joy and of the optimism of youth. Here we see Lawrence portray a much more realistic picture of the hard graft of earning a living during his times - a teacher trying to inspire an unwilling band of seemingly dull or disinterested pupils. When compared to the lustrous imagery of nature poems such as ‘Snake’ this poem does indeed seem dry and dusty, with the last stanza appearing particularly cynical and despairing. But perhaps David Herbert Lawrence is writing like this deliberately - indeed he is successful in painting mood and setting tone, even if that is a miserable one!

‘I do not, and will not; they won't and they don't; and that's all!

I shall keep my strength for myself; they can keep theirs as well.

Why should we beat our heads against the wall

Of each other? I shall sit and wait for the bell.

The words ‘I do not’ refer back to the previous stanza where he says that he is supposed to care mightily about the pupils’ learning. Here he says (unsurprisingly if it is true that the students don’t appreciate his efforts) that he actually doesn’t care any more, for ungrateful students’ learning. They won’t ever want to write, and they don’t write and Lawrence is tired and feeling ill, so he he is deciding to save his energy and strength for himself. He also appears to sympathise with the students wasting their energies pointlessly when they don’t intend to do anything productive with their education. Some might sense a feeling of realism, or even the positivity of a ‘coming to terms’ in Lawrence’s last line as he decides to stop fighting, and just wait for the bell.

Can you summarize the poem Last Lesson of the Afternoon by D.H Lawrence?

The poem begins with a teacher describing his "weariness" and stating that he can no longer teach his students who have no motivation to learn. In the second stanza, the teacher says that he can no longer look at the "threescore" (sixty) books on the desks or read the carelessly written responses that the students turn in. The teacher essentially feels hopeless and questions the purpose of teaching. In the third stanza, the teacher comments that he will not waste his last bit of energy attempting to teach students who continue to insult him. The teacher refuses to endure any more of their abuse. In the fourth stanza, the teacher believes that his teaching and the students' learning are both futile pursuits. In the fifth stanza, the teacher asks "What is the point?" The teacher says that it doesn't matter whether the students can learn simple tasks like describing a dog. In the last stanza, the teacher says it is useless to waste his energy attempting to teach students who couldn't care less. The teacher finds it easier to wait for the bell to ring rather than struggle trying to teach the unruly students. Overall, the poem is about a teacher who is frustrated with his students and cannot wait for the bell to ring. 

It is ironic that, in Last Lesson of the Afternoon by D H Lawrence, it is the teacher who is waiting for the school bell to ring to "end this weariness" and not the students. The children he is trying to teach are "My pack of unruly hounds" which shows how difficult it has become to impart any useful knowledge and he can "urge them no more." They show little respect for their subject and their books contain "several insults of blotted pages."  He feels that it is a futile exercise due to the  "scrawl / Of slovenly work that they have offered me."

The teacher questions whether he can be expected to "waste myself to embers for them" and use up "The last dear fuel" which suggests he will just burn out and there is no reason "to consume Their dross of indifference" which will reduce him to nothing more than "a heap of ashes of weariness." 

The repetition regarding his "weariness" stresses his feelings. To ensure that he does not "hate them - I will sit and wait for the bell." It is clear to the reader that he is resigned to just waiting, thereby keeping "Some of my strength for myself."