Money-Madness by D. H. Lawrence

Money-Madness

BY D.H. LAWRENCE

Money is our madness, our vast collective madness.

And of course, if the multitude is mad

the individual carries his own grain of insanity around with him.

I doubt if any man living hands out a pound note with-out a pang;

and a real tremor, if he hands out a ten-pound note.

We quail, money makes us quail.

It has got us down, we grovel before it in strange terror.

And no wonder, for money has a fearful cruel power among men.

But it is not money we are so terrified of,

it is the collective money-madness of mankind.

For mankind says with one voice: How much is he worth?

Has he no money? Then let him eat dirt, and go cold.–

And if I have no money, they will give me a little bread

so I do not die,

but they will make me eat dirt with it.

I shall have to eat dirt, I shall have to eat dirt

if I have no money.

It is that that I am frightened of.

And that fear can become a delirium.

It is fear of my money-mad fellow-men.

We must have some money

to save us from eating dirt.

And this is all wrong.

Bread should be free,

shelter should be free,

fire should be free

to all and anybody, all and anybody, all over the world.

We must regain our sanity about money

before we start killing one another about it.

It’s one thing or the other.

Answer of the poem -

D.H. Lawrence, in full David Herbert Lawrence, (born September 11, 1885, Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, England—died March 2, 1930, Vence, France), English author of novels, short stories, poems, plays, essays, travel books, and letters. His novels Sons and Lovers (1913), The Rainbow (1915), and Women in Love (1920) made him one of the most influential English writers of the 20th century.

Explanation of the Poem:

Money Madness” is a poem by the great British poet D.H. Lawrence. He was not only a great poet but also a great novelist. He was born in 1885 and died in 1930.He wrote about man and woman relationship in his novels. He was also a short story writer and dramatist. His novels like 'Sons and Lovers', 'The Rainbow ' and 'Women in Love' are very famous. 

The poet calls money madness. It has become our vast collective madness. This madness is not limited to any person, but it is seen in each and every person. 

Money has become god. It rules the minds of people.  People always give more importance to money.  People have forgotten  human values . 

The poet sees madness for money in our world. In fact, money has become a metaphor for the word madness. for money. Every person has his share of this madness. 

Today people would not hands out a pound note to someone needy without feeling a pang at heart; when that note turns to a ten-pound note, people experience real shocks .People tremble from inside as if someone has looted them. 

Money makes us kneel in front of it. It makes us 

fearful. It has powerful influence on our life.

In the next lines , the poet's moods changes.

The poet says that he is not afraid of money. Money is not a problem for the poet at all. But the real problem for the poet is money madness. The poet is terrified of this money madness. Because it has become the collective madness of mankind. 

Toady people think that money is more important than man. They think that money matters most 

today; it means peace, of body and of mind. 

Every time the society sees the man, no 

one cares for his moral values and behaviour. Society decides his social status on the basis of money. They ask questions like: how much is he worth? If he has no money, people do not care for him. They let him eat dirt and die in cold.

The poet goes on to say that if one has no money, the world would give him little money, only enough to buy a piece of bread. But even this small help doesn’t come for free. He has to eat dirt to get it. 

The poet says it is this pitiful and cruel situation that he is afraid of. He fears that such madness would make the world completely insane. The poet says that if we want to save ourselves in this modern day world, we must have money. Because money means power. 

And the poet here strongly criticizes the 

Modern day society. He asserts that bread, shelter, and fire should be free. They 

should be free to anybody and everybody all over the world. We must recover our sanity about money. We must replace our madness with logic. Otherwise one day we will start killing one another for the sake of money. It is either one way or the other.