A SPIRITUAL WOMAN by D. H. Lawrence: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
A man begs the woman he loves to stop dissecting him so clinically and simply allow herself to experience emotions.
The poem
CLOSE your eyes, my love, let me make you blind; They have taught you to see Only a mean arithmetic on the face of things, A cunning algebra in the faces of men, And God like geometry Completing his circles, and working cleverly. I'll kiss you over the eyes till I kiss you blind; If I can--if any one could. Then perhaps in the dark you'll have got what you want to find. You've discovered so many bits, with your clever eyes, And I'm a kaleidoscope That you shake and shake, and yet it won't come to your mind. Now stop carping at me.--But God, how I hate you! Do you fear I shall swindle you? Do you think if you take me as I am, that that will abate you Somehow?--so sad, so intrinsic, so spiritual, yet so cautious, you Must have me all in your will and your consciousness-- I hate you.
A man begs the woman he loves to stop dissecting him so clinically and simply allow herself to experience emotions. She has transformed love into a riddle to be unraveled with her mind, and he finds that infuriating — so infuriating that his frustration spills over into a genuine, heartfelt expression of hatred. The poem reflects the draining struggle between someone who loves naturally and someone who can only express love through control.
Line-by-line
CLOSE your eyes, my love, let me make you blind; / They have taught you to see
I'll kiss you over the eyes till I kiss you blind; / If I can--if any one could.
Then perhaps in the dark you'll have got what you want to find. / You've discovered so many bits, with your clever eyes,
And I'm a kaleidoscope / That you shake and shake, and yet it won't come to your mind.
Now stop carping at me.--But God, how I hate you! / Do you fear I shall swindle you?
Do you think if you take me as I am, that that will abate you / Somehow?--so sad, so intrinsic, so spiritual, yet so cautious, you
Must have me all in your will and your consciousness-- / I hate you.
Tone & mood
The tone takes a distinct journey: it begins softly and encouragingly, transitions into tired sarcasm, and culminates in unapologetic anger. Lawrence doesn’t soften any of the rough parts. The speaker’s voice feels authentically spontaneous—he interrupts himself, makes corrections, and allows conflicting emotions (love and hatred) to coexist without trying to resolve them. That rawness is intentional.
Symbols & metaphors
- Arithmetic, algebra, geometry — These three mathematical disciplines represent the woman's tendency to simplify everything — even love and God — into systems and rules. Lawrence arranges them in increasing order of abstraction to illustrate how thoroughly rationalism has dominated her perspective on the world.
- Blindness / closed eyes — Sight here symbolizes analytical consciousness. Being made blind isn’t a punishment; it’s a liberation—a means of experiencing the world through feeling instead of calculation. The speaker wants her to stop *seeing* so she can begin *knowing* on a deeper level.
- The kaleidoscope — The speaker sees himself as a shifting, beautiful being that defies any fixed pattern. This also highlights the futility of her approach — no matter how hard she shakes the kaleidoscope, it never creates a lasting image, only more change.
- God as geometry — By depicting God as a geometer who "completes his circles," the woman has transformed the divine into something mechanical and predictable. Lawrence highlights that her rationalism eliminates any sense of mystery — in love or in faith.
- Darkness — Darkness isn't menacing in this place; instead, it's a realm where instinct and emotion can flow freely, unhindered by logical thought. The speaker thinks she may finally discover what she seeks when she stops attempting to visualize it.
Historical context
D. H. Lawrence wrote this poem in the early 1900s, a time when he was exploring his lifelong criticism of what he viewed as the stifling impact of modern rationalism on human connections. He felt that industrial society, with its focus on intellect, science, and self-discipline, had alienated people from their instinctual, physical selves. His novels — *Sons and Lovers*, *Women in Love*, *Lady Chatterley's Lover* — repeatedly revisit this struggle. "A Spiritual Woman" is part of his early poetry collection *Amores* (1916), which reflects heavily on his own tumultuous relationships. The title is intentionally ironic: the woman’s spirituality isn’t about transcendence but serves as a form of emotional armor, a method of rising above the chaotic, uncontrollable nature of love. Lawrence was also pushing back against the Victorian ideal of the refined, intellectual woman, which he saw as a cultural prison.
FAQ
Lawrence expresses psychological honesty instead of resorting to drama. The hatred is genuine, but it coexists with love rather than taking its place. The speaker is angry because her unwillingness to let go of her analytical control prevents true intimacy. His love for her remains — it's the barrier she's created that he despises, and by the poem's conclusion, those two emotions become intertwined.
No, it's ironic. Lawrence uses "spiritual" in the same way the woman likely does — as a self-label that seems lofty but actually conveys emotional distance and intellectual arrogance. She views herself as spiritual, but Lawrence reveals that her so-called spirituality is just a way to avoid vulnerability. For Lawrence, genuine spiritual experience would demand the very surrender she's not prepared to offer.
The speaker likens himself to a kaleidoscope to illustrate why her approach to understanding him is futile. A kaleidoscope is stunning and constantly changing—you can't just shake it into a stable, lasting image. The more you attempt to define it, the more it transforms. He is conveying: I am not a puzzle to be figured out. The comparison also playfully ridicules her, as the shaking is her doing.
Mathematics is a strict, impersonal system — it turns everything into numbers and relationships that can be computed. By stating that she applies arithmetic to "the face of things" and algebra to "the faces of men," Lawrence indicates that she views human beings like a mathematician views numbers: as objects for analysis instead of individuals to be connected with emotionally. The geometry she applies to God is the most troubling example of this — she has even made the divine something predictable.
Almost certainly, yes. Lawrence's early poetry was inspired by his own relationships, and *Amores*, the collection this poem is part of, is filled with portraits of women he encountered. While the specific woman isn't named, the emotional depth — a blend of tenderness, frustration, and outright anger — feels genuine rather than fabricated. Lawrence often blurred the lines between his art and his personal experiences.
"Abate" means to reduce or diminish. The speaker wonders if accepting him as he is—without fully understanding or controlling him—might somehow make her less of a person. This reflects a keen psychological insight: her desire to analyze and mentally possess him stems from a fear of being diminished by love. For her, letting go of control feels like losing part of herself.
The poem lacks a consistent rhyme scheme or meter — instead, it flows in loose, uneven lines that frequently break off with dashes and self-corrections. This is intentional. The structure reflects the speaker's mindset: he isn't presenting a tidy argument but rather thinking aloud, interrupting himself, and oscillating between tenderness and anger. This irregularity gives the poem the feel of a genuine confrontation rather than a neatly composed reflection on one.
For Lawrence, "will" is the intentional, controlling aspect of the self — the element that makes decisions and gives direction — while "consciousness" refers to the analytical, observing mind. Together, they embody everything he thought was misguided about modern, overly intellectual individuals. He desired love to exist beneath the realm of will and consciousness, rooted in the body and instincts. The woman's demand for him to be "all in her will and consciousness" suggests she wants to possess him mentally, which Lawrence views as the end of genuine love.