In D. H. Lawrence’s “Lotus Hurt by the Cold,” the speaker imagines his hopes and desires as lotus flowers rising from the muddy water of his own blood. He feels beautifully exposed, offering his tender passion to a woman who seems willing to love him. But when he opens himself fully, she reacts with a look of hate. The flower of his feeling, which wanted to pour itself out for her, closes in pain. His love sinks back down, unopened and unfulfilled. Then the woman’s mood shifts—her “moon-faced lover” smile returns, gentle now that he has suffered. The poem creates a mood of fragile longing and hurt, where the speaker’s emotional blooming depends on another person’s changing feelings. The lotus becomes something lovely and vulnerable that keeps rising hopefully, only to be shut down by cold rejection.
Lotus Hurt by the Cold — Summary
How many times, like lotus lilies risen Upon the surface of a river, there Have risen floating on my blood the rare Soft glimmers of my hope escaped from prison.
So I am clothed all over with the light And sensitive beautiful blossoming of passion; Till naked for her in the finest fashion The flowers of all my mud swim into sight.
And then I offer all myself unto This woman who likes to love me: but she turns A look of hate upon the flower that burns To break and pour her out its precious dew.
And slowly all the blossom shuts in pain, And all the lotus buds of love sink over To die unopened: when my moon-faced lover, Kind on the weight of suffering, smiles again.