"The Trespasser" was written in 1912. It is the short story of a love affair, condemned because of the cowardice of the hero, a 38-year-old musician, who is not afraid to die but to live.
When D.H. Lawrence wrote "The Trespasser" he was 27 years old and already in a fertile period of his writing career.
For The Trespasser, W.W. Robson notes that "it is the study of a love relationship, written with almost unbearable intensity." F.R. Leavis points out that "The Trespasser" shows an unusual power in rendering passion and emotion.
This "intensity," or power, is also the virtues of the young Lawrence, as well as his hero, Sigmund, who lives his life like his music: within a fantasy opera.