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A LOVE SONG by D. H. Lawrence

Summary, meaning, line-by-line analysis & FAQ.

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A speaker talks to a lover who isn’t there, confessing that the details of their presence have blurred over time—their voice, their gaze—but seeing apple blossoms illuminated by moonlight brings the lover rushing back with overwhelming intensity.

Poet
D. H. Lawrence
Themes
dreams, loneliness, love
The PoemFull text

A LOVE SONG

D. H. Lawrence

REJECT me not if I should say to you I do forget the sounding of your voice, I do forget your eyes that searching through The mists perceive our marriage, and rejoice. Yet, when the apple-blossom opens wide Under the pallid moonlight's fingering, I see your blanched face at my breast, and hide My eyes from diligent work, malingering. Ah, then, upon my bedroom I do draw The blind to hide the garden, where the moon Enjoys the open blossoms as they straw Their beauty for his taking, boon for boon. And I do lift my aching arms to you, And I do lift my anguished, avid breast, And I do weep for very pain of you, And fling myself at the doors of sleep, for rest. And I do toss through the troubled night for you, Dreaming your yielded mouth is given to mine, Feeling your strong breast carry me on into The peace where sleep is stronger even than wine.

Public domain

Sourced from Project Gutenberg

§01Quick summary

What this poem is about

A speaker talks to a lover who isn’t there, confessing that the details of their presence have blurred over time—their voice, their gaze—but seeing apple blossoms illuminated by moonlight brings the lover rushing back with overwhelming intensity. The poem follows a restless night: the speaker pulls down the blind against the garden, feels a deep yearning, and ultimately gives in to dreaming of the lover’s embrace, the only way to find rest. It explores how desire can still ache even without a vivid memory.

§02Themes

Recurring themes

§03Line by line

Stanza by stanza, with notes

  1. REJECT me not if I should say to you / I do forget the sounding of your voice,

    Editor's note

    The speaker begins with a tentative apology, urging the lover not to take their admission to heart: the vivid sensory memories of them — their voice, their searching eyes — have faded. The phrase "searching through / The mists" implies that the lover once gazed toward a hopeful shared future ("our marriage"). Forgetting is portrayed as something to be ashamed of, highlighting the significance of the relationship.

  2. Yet, when the apple-blossom opens wide / Under the pallid moonlight's fingering,

    Editor's note

    The "yet" changes everything. While conscious memory may have faded, the body retains its memories through sensation. Apple blossoms in moonlight bring to mind the lover's pale face resting against the speaker's chest. "Malingering" — pretending to be ill to dodge responsibilities — is a clever, self-aware term: the speaker realizes they are allowing themselves to be sidetracked, and they don't completely mind.

  3. Ah, then, upon my bedroom I do draw / The blind to hide the garden,

    Editor's note

    The speaker reacts to the vision by shutting it out — literally lowering the blind to hide the moonlit blossoms from view. Yet, this gesture is pointless, and the speaker is aware of that. The moon "enjoys" the open blossoms, which share their beauty without reservation ("boon for boon"), creating a sensual exchange that the speaker is unable to join in on due to the lover's absence.

  4. And I do lift my aching arms to you, / And I do lift my anguished, avid breast,

    Editor's note

    The repeated phrase "And I do" lends this stanza a rhythmic quality reminiscent of a litany or prayer — a structured, almost ritualistic way of expressing grief. "Avid" (hungry, eager) pairs with "anguished" to convey the dual nature of longing: it embodies both pain and desire simultaneously. The stanza concludes with the speaker hurling themselves towards sleep, much like one might throw themselves against a locked door.

  5. And I do toss through the troubled night for you, / Dreaming your yielded mouth is given to mine,

    Editor's note

    Sleep, when it finally arrives, brings the lover back in a dream. "Yielded mouth" and "strong breast" are intimate, physical details—the body discovers in dreams what waking memory struggles to keep. The poem concludes not with resolution but with a sense of weary calm, portraying sleep as more potent than wine: the ultimate surrender to unconsciousness, and the only realm where the lover can truly be present.

§04Tone & mood

How this poem feels

The tone is aching and confessional, yet it avoids self-pity. Lawrence maintains honesty with terms like "malingering," revealing a dry self-awareness beneath the longing. The repeated "And I do" phrase adds a ceremonial weight to the second half, reminiscent of someone performing a private ritual of grief. By the end, the mood transitions from restless pain to a sense of exhausted surrender.

§05Symbols & metaphors

Symbols & metaphors

Apple blossoms
The blossoms represent fleeting beauty and desire, but Lawrence adds an erotic twist — they open fully under the moon's touch, reflecting the physical closeness the speaker longs for. Their white color also resonates with the lover's "blanched face."
The moon
The moon plays the role of a lover in the garden, delighting in the beauty of the blossoms while the speaker remains shut inside alone. Its "fingering" light has a sensual quality, intensifying the speaker's sense of exclusion.
The blind
Pulling down the blind is a self-protective move that ultimately backfires. It shows the speaker trying to manage their desire by blocking out the trigger, but the feeling of longing doesn't rely on seeing the garden to persist.
Sleep
Sleep serves as both an escape and a reunion. The speaker throws themselves at it like a door, and once inside, they discover their lover waiting in a dream. It’s the only place where absence can be momentarily mended.
The lifted arms and breast
The physical gesture of lifting arms toward someone who isn't there is one of the poem's clearest expressions of longing — the body performing a reunion that can't take place in reality.

§06Historical context

Historical context

D. H. Lawrence wrote this poem in the early twentieth century, a time when he was dealing with intense and often tumultuous relationships, culminating in his elopement with Frieda Weekley in 1912. He had a deep fascination with the life of the body and the unconscious, concepts he would explore more fully in novels like *Sons and Lovers* and *Women in Love*. His early poetry, found in collections such as *Love Poems and Others* (1913), is heavily influenced by his personal experiences and tends to depict desire as a physical and almost elemental force, rather than just a refined romantic feeling. The Edwardian era, in which this poem was written, was characterized by strict social conventions surrounding sexuality, which lends Lawrence's candid exploration of bodily desire a subtly rebellious quality. You can see the influence of earlier lyric traditions — like the sonnet and the love complaint — in the poem's formal structure, even as Lawrence challenges their conventionality.

§07FAQ

Questions readers ask

The speaker is reaching out to a lover who isn't present — someone they are apart from due to distance or other circumstances. The poem avoids naming the lover or detailing the reasons for their separation, allowing the emphasis to remain on the emotional and physical sensation of longing instead of the backstory.

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LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI. — John KeatsNeutral Tones — Thomas HardyThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock — T. S. EliotI Cannot Live with You — Emily Dickinson

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Themes in this poem

Poems about dreamsPoems about lonelinessPoems about lovePoems about memory