“Lawrence’s poetry” by Helen Sword in The Cambridge Companion to D. H. Lawrence (2006)

Poet, scholar, and teacher Helen Sword provides a useful primer on D. H. Lawrence’s poetry, which is often overlooked in favor of his novels. She covers Lawrence’s major literary influences and details the evolution of his poetry from its early, formal “Georgian” phase to the later, more Modernist works like “Whales Weep Not!”.

“Lawrence As Poet” by Hebe Bair (1973)

Like Sword, Hebe Bair focuses on rehabilitating Lawrence’s poetry, which she describes as long being treated like “a critical stepchild, a closet baby brought out with apologies only because of its obvious kinship with Lawrence’s other work.” Bair partially attributes this lack of academic interest to the poems’ spotty publication history, but summarizes and encourages scholarly reconsideration of Lawrence as a fully mature poet with a clear literary vision and voice.

“The Colour Ambience in Lawrence’s Early and Later Poetry” by Chaman Nahal (1975)

While Sword and Bair offer broadscale, holistic views of Lawrence’s poetry, Chaman Nahal’s “Color Ambience” is a good example of a more focused line of study. He explores Lawrence’s use of color symbolism and imagery in Look! We Have Come Through! and—more importantly for this guide—his Last Poems, including “Whales Weep Not!”.