The Piano by D. H. Lawrence. 10 GCSE exam essay quotes, fully analysed for language, structure and form. There’s even a line-by-line translation and more! – perfect for your GCSE exam or essay!
Congratulations! You hit the GCSE analysis jackpot! Keep reading… here’s everything you need to smash your GCSE or iGCSE English Literature exam…
What is the poem about?
In the poem Piano by D.H. Lawrence, the sound of a woman singing triggers the narrator into remembering his childhood. As the poem progresses, the memories shift from positive to negative as he begins to miss his mother and childhood until he breaks down and starts crying like a child wishing he was in the past.
What is the purpose?
To explore the following issues.
- The power of memories
- Isolation and the need belong
- Innocence, safety and comfort of childhood
- The pressures of adulthood
- Strong bond between a mother and child goes beyond death
- Male stereotypes around emotion
What is the message of the poem The Piano?
The message appears to be that life is brief so enjoy childhood, cherish every moment of life and appreciate loved ones.
Useful Vocabulary
- Appassionato – when music becomes more passionate (full of energy and emotion) and louder.
- Cast – to throw away.
- Clamour – a loud noise or commotion.
- Cosy – comfortable and safe.
- Dusk – just before nighttime
- Glamour – something that is attractive or exciting.
- Hymns – Christian religious song.
- Insidious – looks kind but is evil.
- Parlour – old fashioned word for living room.
- Poised – ready for action; calmly composed
- Spite – to hurt or annoy.
- Vain – high opinion of oneself.
- In vain – pointless; no point in the action
- Vista – beautiful long narrow view.
LINE-BY-LINE TRANSLATION: Search For The Piano by D.H. Lawrence.
Click on the arrow under each poem stanza to reveal the translation. Each matching line is numbered to help you.
TIP: try to work out how and why the translation is connected to the original line. Notice what words have been swapped. This will help you in the future when you have to understand unseen poems in your GCSE exam.
The 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.
Click for Translation
- A woman sings to the narrator;
- Which triggers a memory of
- Him as a child, sitting under a booming piano
- Playing with his mother’s feet as she sings and plays the piano.
- 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.
Click for Translation
- Against his wishes, the music is played is so well
- That he is forced to remember the past, and wants to ‘belong’
- To go back in time and feel safe and warm at home
- Singing religious songs with loved ones, following the piano’s lead.
- 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.
Click for Translation
- Back in the present day, it’s pointless for the singing to be louder
- As she sings passionately with the piano. Because the beauty
- Of his childhood memories resurface, his manhood is ripped
- Away as he drowns in tears,cryi ng like a child to be young again.
IMAGE: “A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings”
D.H. Lawrence – The Piano
Grade 9 GCSE Language Analysis Paragraph Example
Here are some quotes from our quotes tables below written up as a short paragraph to show you how amazing your answers could be if you use the information in this guide.
GCSE QUESTION: How does D.H. Lawrence explore memories in The Piano?
Example Exam or Essay Paragraph
In the poem The Piano, D.H. Lawrence suggests that memories have power and control over a person in “taking me back down the vista of years.” The personification “taking me” implies the music is a powerful force that takes control of him and he is powerless to resist. Whereas, the metaphor “vista” creates a positive image of a timeline of memories stretching far back towards his past.
The Piano also implies his memories are painful, “In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song Betrays me.” The volta in “in spite of myself” signals the tone switching to a negative one. Lawrence tries to resist for some unknown reason, creating reader intrigue, and is forced into remembering. Furthermore, the emotive language “insidious” implies that the memory of his mother is deceptive because it appears to be positive and heart-warming but it causes him pain. The use of personification: “betrays” suggests the song, which creates memories of his mother, violates his trust as his memories are conspiring against him. He continues to lose control as the poem progresses.
Lawrence uses the form of a Lyric Poem with three quatrains, each consisting of four lines. Each one is a self-contained unit that contributes to the overall theme of nostalgia and longing for the past. The AABB rhyme scheme for each quatrain creates a musical and rhythmic quality. This suits the poem about a piano and music and also helps to evoke a sense of order in the poet’s memories that seem so solid and safe compared to the uncertainty of his adult life.
Right, now it’s time for you to get your hands on all those beautiful GCSE quotes…
LANGUAGE QUOTES.
| EVDENCE | ANALYSIS |
| Taking me back down the vista of years | Personification: “Taking me” implies the music is a powerful force that takes control of him and he is powerless to resist. Metaphor: “vista” – Which means a pleasingly long and narrow view – creates a positive image of a timeline of memories stretching far back towards his past. |
| feet of a mother who smiles | Symbolism: “feet” – creates a positive image that positions the child at his mother’s feet; implies the admiration, love and respect he has for his mother as he looks up to her. Symbolism: “mother who smiles” – archetypal mother stereotype: nurturing and kind figure and in that time period mothers would be seen as the only person who could fill that role. Image that most readers will resonate with emotionally. |
| winter outside And hymns in the cosy parlour | Symbolism: “winter” represents the emotional coldness and pressures of the world which the poet wants to escape in his present life as an adult. Juxtaposition: “cosy” – the inside of the family home represents safety and comfort as it reminds the poet of his parents’ protection. The contrast of the emotional warmth inside is exaggerated by conditions outside the home (and outside the memory in the poet’s life). |
| my manhood is cast Down in the flood of remembrance | Metaphor: “manhood” – signifies his maturity and sense of being a strong and responsible adult. Metaphor: “cast” – the poet presents the idea of adulthood as being a veil or cloak that hides the child within. Adults learn to control their emotions but the thought of his mother instantly makes him feel vulnerable and helpless like a child again. Metaphor: “flood” implies that he is overwhelmed with sadness at the thought of losing his mother and other loved ones from his childhood. Perhaps the pressures and stress of adult life have forced him to think back and desire the innocence of childhood safe in the knowledge that his parents can protect him. |
If you want to learn more about analysing LANGUAGE, visit our incredible GCSE English Language Analysis | EASY Grade 9 Guide
FORM AND STRUCTURE QUOTES.
| FORM: Lyric Poem | 3 quatrains, each consisting of 4 lines: Each quatrain is a self-contained unit that contributes to the overall theme of nostalgia and longing for the past. |
| STRUCTURE: AABB rhyme scheme | The rhyme scheme is AABB for each quatrain: This creates a musical and rhythmic quality. This suits the poem about a piano and music. This regular rhyme scheme also helps to evoke a sense of order about the poet’s memories that seem so solid and safe compared to the uncertainty of his adult life. |
| STRUCTURE: “In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song Betrays me” | Volta/ turn/ idiom: “in spite of myself” – which means against his own wishes – signals the tone switching to a negative one. He is trying to resist for some reason and is being forced into remembering. Emotive language: “insidious” – which means to appear but is secretly harmful – implies that the memory of his mother is deceptive because it appears to be positive and heart-warming but it causes him pain. Personification: “betrays” – the song, which creates memories of his mother, violates his trust as his memories are conspiring against him. He continues to lose control as the poem progresses. |
| STRUCTURE: weep like a child for the past. | Emotive language and repetition: “weep” – The poem concludes with the narrator’s complete transformation from a man to child. Uncontrollable outpouring of sadness now flows from him. Simile: “child” after slowly losing control in previous lines of the Piano, he is now fully out of control of his emotions. The pretence of adulthood has evaporated and the poet implies that there is a wounded child within adults. The poem Piano could also suggest the child within every adult is permanently attached to their mother. Symbolism: “past” the past is presented with the qualities of home – a place of safety, innocence, joy and endless time unlike the pressures and limited time of adult life. |
If you want to learn more about analysing STRUCTURE, visit our incredible GCSE English Structure Analysis | EASY Grade 9 Guide
Need to learn about analysing Form? Visit our incredible GCSE English Form Analysis | EASY Beginner’s Grade 9 Guide.
Now, back to this guide…
IMAGE: “hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide”
– D. H. Lawrence – The Piano
CONTEXT and Grade 9 ‘GOLD IDEAS’.
| CONTEXT: D.H Lawrence’s mother. | D.H. Lawrence’s mother, Lydia Lawrence, was very important in his life. She was well-educated and greatly influenced his thinking and feelings. Lawrence remembers his childhood with longing, especially the times when his mother played the piano. Lydia often played music at home, and this had a big impact on Lawrence. The poem is a way for him to honour his mother and the strong emotional bond they shared, reminding him of simpler, safer times. |
| GOLD IDEA: Society’s fear of isolation and the inherent human desire to belong. | People often fear being alone because humans naturally want to be part of a group or community. This desire to belong helps us feel safe and accepted, and it’s why we make friends and join clubs or teams. When we are isolated, we can feel lonely and sad because we miss the comfort of being with others. Being part of a group also gives us a sense of identity and purpose. So, society values connections and relationships because they make us feel happy and supported. It could just be that Lawrence misses his mother in the poem The Piano. However, his use of the verb “belong” strongly suggests that he feels socially isolated in some way. |
| GOLD IDEA: The desire for a return to childhood. | People often long for their childhood because it was a time when they felt safe and loved by their family and friends. As children, they didn’t have to worry about the stresses and responsibilities that come with being an adult. Childhood is remembered as a time of fun, play, and freedom, where the biggest worries might have been about homework or a game. In The Piano, D.H. Lawrence uses the adjective “glamour” to depict how he craves a return to his childhood. You might be experiencing this as you become increasingly responsible as a teenager and approaching your exams. It’s normal! This longing ties back to the human desire to belong and feel secure within a group discussed above, as childhood often provides those feelings. |
| CONTEXT: Male Stereotypes. | In Lawrence’s time, there were strong stereotypes about how men should behave, especially regarding showing emotions. Men were often expected to be tough and not show feelings like sadness or fear. Crying or expressing vulnerability was seen as a weakness, and men were encouraged to hide these emotions. This pressure to appear strong and unemotional could make it hard for men to connect with others and feel understood. In the final stanza of The Piano, Lawrence describes how his “manhood is cast Down” which presents his adult persona as a cloak of pretence. If you think about it, we all gradually learn how to control our emotions. If we’re tired or sad, our strength to control them weakens which is why we cry or become angry at times. As discussed previously, the narrator, who is already feeling isolated in his adult life, is triggered into crying by the memory of his mother and family. Male stereotypes can still affect people today, making it important to understand that it’s okay for everyone, including men, to show their true feelings and seek support when they need it. Make sure you speak to family or friends if you’re ever sad or anxious – it’s always better to talk and share problems. If you don’t feel like sharing your problems with people you know, there is a charity for kids called Childline (click the link) who will help you without needing to know who you are. They’re always there if you ever need them! |
IMAGE:
“my manhood is cast Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past”
– D. H. Lawrence | The Piano
Possible GCSE English Literature Exam Questions
In each case below, don’t forget to explore how language (techniques and keywords), structure and form create a dramatic image. Some exam boards may require you to discuss context too (see our notes above) – make sure you check with your teacher or on the examination board website in the specification.
| How does the poet D.H. Lawrence explore memories in the poem Piano? | This is probably the most obvious (and easiest) question. This poem (and the analysis above) mainly focuses on the poet D.H. Lawrence’s memories of his childhood and their powerful impact that reduces him to a weeping child. Use the quote tables above to find language, structure and form quotes to help you explain how memories are depicted. |
| Answering a question with another focus. | You could get questions on any of the issues that are raised in the poem. Here’s a quick recap of what they are: The power of memories Isolation and the need belong Innocence, safety and comfort of childhood The pressures of adulthood Strong bond between a mother and child goes beyond death Male stereotypes around emotion In each situation, look for quotes that answer the question first and only then try to work out how language techniques, structure and form help support your answers. Remember, don’t try to drag your answer back to something else that you have revised as you’ll lose marks for not sticking to the question! If you need more help, check out our other guides on writing question responses. |
