The Best of School

D. H. Lawrence’s ‘The Best of School’ is a poem about the enlightening power of education and the joys of teaching. The speaker watches as his students gain new insights from their studies, feeling as if his life has become entwined with theirs through the gift of learning.

The Best of School
D.H. Lawrence

The blinds are drawn because of the sun,And the boys and the room in a colourless gloomOf underwater float: bright ripples runAcross the walls as the blinds are blownTo let the sunlight in; and I,As I sit on the shores of the class, alone,Watch the boys in their summer blousesAs they write, their round heads busily bowed:And one after another rousesHis face to look at me;To ponder very quietly,As seeing, he does not see.

And then he turns again, with a little, gladThrill of his work he turns again from me,Having found what he wanted, having got what was to be had.

And very sweet it is, while the sunlight wavesIn the ripening morning, to sit alone with the classAnd feel the stream of awakening ripple and passFrom me to the boys, whose brightening souls it lavesFor this little hour.

This morning, sweet it isTo feel the lads' looks light on me,Then back in a swift, bright flutter to work;Each one darting away with hisDiscovery, like birds that steal and flee.Touch after touch I feel on meAs their eyes glance at me for the grainOf rigour they taste delightedly.

As tendrils reach out yearningly,Slowly rotate till they touch the treeThat they cleave unto, and up which they climbUp to their lives—so they to me.

I feel them cling and cleave to meAs vines going eagerly up; they twineMy life with other leaves, my timeIs hidden in theirs, their thrills are mine

Summary

Observing his classroom, the speaker initially feels disconnected from the students. However, as they gain new flashes of understanding from their studies, he comes to value his contribution to their growing minds deeply.

The speaker compares his students to birds and growing vines, both of which seek sunlight and nutrients, just as the students seek knowledge from the speaker. He senses the boys’ flashes of understanding and rejoices as if their triumphs were his own.

Structure and Form

‘The Best of School’ is a free verse poem with six stanzas of an inconsistent length and rhyme scheme. There are many perfect rhymes throughout and a slant rhyme in the last stanza. The first, fourth, and fifth stanzas use the same rhyme with “me,” which focuses the poem on the speaker’s personal experience.

Literary Devices

Lawrence uses the following literary devices:

• Alliteration: Lawrence uses alliteration to add greater emphasis and rhythm to certain lines. For example, in line 33, the alliteration of “cling and cleave” expresses the speaker’s enthusiasm for his students’ learning.
• Rhyme: ‘The Best of School’ has many perfect rhymes throughout, including lines 1 and 3, and 4 and 6.
• Extended Metaphor: Lawrence employs multiple metaphors that extend for an entire stanza or more. These include comparing the classroom to an ocean and the students to birds and vines, all which are connected through imagery of growth.
• Enjambment: The poem has several lines that end in enjambments, pushing the reader to move quickly onto the next line. These include lines 2, 3, 7, and 9  in just the first stanza.

Detailed Analysis

Stanza One

The blinds are drawn because of the sun,

And the boys and the room in a colourless gloom

Of underwater float: bright ripples run

Across the walls as the blinds are blown

To let the sunlight in; and I,

As I sit on the shores of the class, alone,

Watch the boys in their summer blouses

As they write, their round heads busily bowed:

And one after another rouses

His face to look at me;

To ponder very quietly,

As seeing, he does not see.

As the speaker observes his students, he imagines the classroom as being underwater because of the low light. He describes the environment as a “colourless gloom,” which implies the space is boring and lacks variety. The water imagery suggests a womb-like, primordial state of being where the boys “float,” stagnant and detached. “Sunlight” comes in through the blinds, mimicking life entering the primordial ocean. Its “bright ripples” bring movement and the prospect of enlightenment for the “busily bowed” students.

The speaker is on the “shores of the class, alone,” suggesting he feels alienated from his students. However, each student “rouses” himself and looks at the speaker as they try to “see” the answers in their work. While the students were previously disconnected and figuratively “at sea,” now they are drawn to the speaker as they deeply “ponder” their studies.

Stanza Two

And then he turns again, with a little, glad

Thrill of his work he turns again from me,

Having found what he wanted, having got what was to be had.

In the second stanza, the speaker witnesses a moment of change in one of his students, who turns from him with a “thrill” as he reaches a breakthrough in his work. The student finds “what he wanted” from the speaker, which characterizes the silent exchange as a gift from the speaker to the student. The repetition of “turns again” reflects the student and speaker’s mutual excitement at the student’s flash of understanding.

Stanza Three

And very sweet it is, while the sunlight waves

In the ripening morning, to sit alone with the class

And feel the stream of awakening ripple and pass

From me to the boys, whose brightening souls it laves

For this little hour.

The speaker repeats that he is “alone,” emphasizing his continued separation from the students, but he feels cheered when he senses their “awakening” minds. With the shift from floating, “colourless gloom” to “waves” of “sunlight” and “ripples” of understanding, Lawrence shows that the room is becoming dynamic and alive. The image of a “Ripening morning” connotes growth, with the boys maturing in knowledge like a fruit ripening. The speaker, too, finds the experience “sweet,” a word that also suggests full ripeness.

A “stream” of realization “laves” or washes the “brightening” souls of the boys, illuminating their studies and giving them clear insight. The speaker then describes this period as a “Little Hour,” characterizing it as a humble, subtle moment of change.

Stanza Four

This morning, sweet it is

To feel the lads’ looks light on me,

Then back in a swift, bright flutter to work;

Each one darting away with his

Discovery, like birds that steal and flee.

Touch after touch I feel on me

As their eyes glance at me for the grain

Of rigour they taste delightedly.

The speaker repeats that this moment is “sweet,” emphasizing his pleasure at seeing the students learn. He likens the students to birds since they seek knowledge from him, like birds seek food or treasure. This comparison characterizes the boys as bright-eyed, quick, and eager, and his description of their glances as “light” confirms that their quest for knowledge is not a burden but a joy for him.

Lawrence continues to use the language of movement to describe the boys’ growing enthusiasm; where they once “float[ed]” in uncertainty, now they “flutter” with interest in their work. The speaker feels further connected to his students, realizing that their looks are drawing “rigor” or wisdom from him, like birds pecking hungrily at “grain.”

Stanza Five

As tendrils reach out yearningly,

Slowly rotate till they touch the tree

That they cleave unto, and up which they climb

Up to their lives—so they to me.

The speaker turns to a new metaphor to portray his relationship with his students. He compares the boys to growing “tendrils,” or vines, that cling to him as if he were a great tree. This recalls the imagery of sunlight from the first three stanzas; it is the boys’ illuminating discoveries that allow their minds to mature, similar to how a plant needs sunlight to grow. The speaker imagines his students as “yearning” to learn more as they “climb/Up to their lives,” suggesting that his teachings are part of the uphill journey to adulthood.

Stanza Six

I feel them cling and cleave to me

As vines going eagerly up; they twine

My life with other leaves, my time

Is hidden in theirs, their thrills are mine

In the last stanza, the speaker completely bridges the distance he felt from his students in the first stanza. He not only revels in their “thrills” but claims they have become his. The alliteration of “cling and cleave” reflects the speaker’s excitement. As the students reach for knowledge from him, his “life” is entwined with theirs. He ultimately suggests that his “hidden” contributions as their teacher has become an essential part of their growth into adulthood, even if know one knows or remembers him.

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