Lawrence’s “Valentine’s Night” is spoken by a man to his lover just after intimacy. He sees her as both “shadow and flame,” dangerous and bright, and speaks of a kind of death in the game—perhaps the loss of self or innocence in passion. Then he gathers her close, as if placing a poppy back in its cup, and she becomes a maid again: not literally untouched, but renewed and unafraid. There is a double vision here. She is like a child, a flower still in bud, undefiled; yet she is also a woman who knows good and evil, carrying both in one blooming flower. The mood is tender and awed, mixing desire with reverence. The speaker seems moved that his lover can hold innocence and experience together, and that love can make her new without erasing what she knows.
Valentine's Night — Summary
You shadow and flame, You interchange, You death in the game!
Now I gather you up, Now I put you back Like a poppy in its cup.
And so, you are a maid Again, my darling, but new, Unafraid.
My love, my blossom, a child Almost! The flower in the bud Again, undefiled.
And yet, a woman, knowing All, good, evil, both In one blossom blowing.