THE

ENGLISH
ARE
SO
NICE!

D H Lawrence
-London
 POEM BACKGROUND
The poem “The English are So Nice” uses a pompous, sarcastic tone. The
word “nice” is clearly overused to the point where the speaker seems to
imply how not nice the English are, or how superficially(fake) nice they
are. It’s not very “nice” to basically say the Americans, French, and
Germans are dumb and on a different level of niceness. The last lines also
highlight the sarcasm “But nice enough, just nice enough to let them feel
they’re not quite as nice as they might be.” Being nice to make others
realize how not nice they are seems to defeat the purpose of being nice.
Some find the poem hilarious with its use of “nice” and sarcasm.
 ANALYSIS
• This five stanza relays the message that the other countries try to
let others know in a nice way of something that is not so nice.
• Iine 1 and 2 – “The English are so nice, so awfully nice” - This
shows the oxymoron by having it say that they are nice but behind
everything they really are not.
 LINES 4-6
These three lines are full of cliché with 'nice' repeated in each line. And
what's more' is another phrase people use without thinking of what the
words mean. "They're nice about being nice' is humorous and shows
hypocrisy. Their 'niceness' is their badge of honour; they pride themselves
on how magnanimous they are. However, if you are not nice then they will
'make you feel it' - they will make sure you feel unwelcome and force you
into their idea of what it is to be nice. The overuse of 'nice' creates irony.
 LINES 7-10
• The speaker lists different nationalities to reveal the prejudices of the English. Perhaps the Americans
are named first because they are slightly better than the others as they speak English and used to be a
British colony, 'and so on' - there is such contempt for people who are not inglish they do not even
deserve to be mentioned. "They're all very well' is a typical Brtish statement and very condescending. If
something is 'all very well, it is fairly useful or good in some situations but not excellent and not useful
or good in every situation. It suggests they are not worth thinking about. But is placed at the beginning
of the line, to show the speaker means ‘not really nice’ means not up to our standards of what nice is’.
• Line 10 sums up the English attitude towards foreigners. ‘They’re not nice in our sense of the word, are
they now?’. The intolerance of difference expressed in these lines builds to the statement that
they[others] are not nice. The italics use of our implies that the British have exclusive rights to be
“nice”. Note that at this point the speaker asks a question of his listener and then without waiting for an
answer, carries on.
 LINES 11-20
These lines are rambling and we get the sense the speaker is talking to
themselves. Here we see that the English do not easily learn another
language to make themselves approachable and pleasant to a foreigner.
They expect everyone else to learn English. The words 'you must never take
them seriously' indicates the British attitude towards foreigners and that
they regard them as not important. One can say what one likes and does not
have to be careful of offending because they have no sensitivity as they are
not English, "they wouldn't understand: One can be 'fairly nice' but not too
nice or the foreigners might think they could become friendly and ‘take
advantage’ and that would not be 'nice' for the English.
 LINES 21-22
The last two lines are the final reinforcement of the effect the arrogance of
the English has on those they meet. In their condescending 'nice' way the
English let others 'feel they are not as nice as they might be' The attitude
that one must be superior to others and show them what English 'niceness'
is, comes through clearly. Throughout the poem, the speaker has been
sarcastic and ironic in making their point that the English are not 'nice' but,
in fact, arrogant towards anyone who is not one of them. His mocking tone
shows up those who are so limited in their understanding and sensitivity to
others yet have a huge sense of their own superiorty
 READING OF THE POEM
Visit the following link for the reading of the poem:
https://youtu.be/uDhzHWHrNqk