Analysing: "Valentine"

Dear Readers,

Today, I will be sharing with you one of the poems which I personally like very much - "Valentine" by Carol Ann Duffy. It challenges the normal perceptions of love, by offering an alternative viewpoint. The remarks made might seem harsh to most, but they are incredibly true.

Let me explain the poem stanza by stanza, very briefly and simply so that it is easy for all to comprehend and understand.

Not a red rose or a satin heart

This stanza shows that Duffy rejects the normal romantic symbols of Valentine’s Day. She does not treat love in the usual lovey-dovey way and feels that relationships are not simply romantic.

I give you an onion

It is a moon wrapped in brown paper

It promises light

Like the careful undressing of love

Here Duffy shows how an onion works as a love gift. The brown skin of the onion represents the wrapping paper while the whole onion represents the moon. When unwrapped, the light of the round, white moon is revealed.

The different layers of the onion represent the different characters of a person’s personality.. The peeling of the onion is likened to two people gradually discovering each other’s personality while in a relationship. Moonlight is used here as it provides a romantic setting.

Here

It will blind you with tears like a lover

It will make your reflection a wobbling picture of grief

Duffy is handing the onion to the other person. Just as our eyes tear while peeling onions , Duffy show that pain caused by a loved one also brings about tears and grief. Duffy feels that people in a relationship should admit that love also brings about pains and sorrow. The word “wobbling” is used because tears often blur one’s vision.

I am trying to be truthful

Here Duffy shows that she is direct, blunt and honest.

Not a cute card or a kissogram

Once again, the poet shows her disapproval of commercial tokens of love.

I give you an onion.

Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips.

Possessive and faithful as we are, for as long as we are.

Duffy shows that an onion is a good symbol for passion because its strong taste lingers on a person’s lips, just like the fierceness of a kiss which can stay with one forever. Duffy does not like pretence. She felt that love affairs should last only for the time that two people are interested in each other. When they lose that intense feeling for each other, she feels that the relationship should end.

Take it

Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring, if you like

Lethal

Its scent will cling to your fingers, cling to your knife

Duffy demands that her lover take her gift. Duffy seems to sneer at marriage, as she put it as an option, if you like’. The poet feels that marriage is lethal in the sense that it can kill love and passion. She feels that some people never recover from a broken relationship, as the word “cling” is repeated to show that feelings linger on even when the relationship has ended. “Knife is used here to link marriage to a wound.

To summarise, Duffy is criticising conventional ideas and empty gestures of love. She shows her wit and poetic cleverness by turning an ordinary onion into an unusual symbol of love and makes it seems more appropriate than the traditional Valentine gifts.

What do you think about this poem? Feel free to voice your views.

Best Regards,
Nathan :)