Post by thethoughtpolice on Mar 16, 2011 11:48:00 GMT
‘Valentine’ by Carol Ann Duffy is an unusual poem with highly striking closing lines. Her poem presnts the reader with an unusual view of love. In the poem, Duffy has her speaker present her lover with a Valentine’s Day gift. In this case, the gift is not a ‘cute card’, but an onion. Throughout the poem, Duffy uses the onion as an extended metaphor to portray her realistic view of love. This is made especially striking in the closing lines.
Duffy’s closing lines depict the end of the relationship and are striking through her use of imagery.
“Lethal,
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
Cling to your knife.”
The onion is seen as being chopped up violently by a knife. Just as this act severs the onion, so too Duffy is suggesting the loving relationship is ending suddenly and forcefully. Duffy’s word choice of ‘Lethal’, which has the connotations of death, suggests that the end of a relationship can leave both lovers feeling scarred and bitter. This is reinforced by the image of the onion’s smell remaining on your fingers after cutting it. Therefore, the memories of love will forever haunt you after the relationship is over.
These striking closing lines are skilfully prepared for by Duffy throughout the entire poem. She initially prepares for them by presenting the positive qualities of love. In the first few lines of the poem, Duffy compares love to the onion, which is
“a moon wrapped in brown paper
(that) promises light
like the careful undressing of love.”
Here, Duffy suggests the romantic feelings that lovers have in the beginning stages of their relationship. Moons are often romantic symbols of love. Duffy uses ‘light’ imagery to suggest promise and beauty. She even playfully suggests that peeling off the layers of the onion is like taking off clothes to make love. At this point, love is shown to have much promise at the start.
However, she quickly begins to build to the darker and striking presentation of love’s more realistic and darker side. In the second verse, she extends the metaphor of the onion.
“It will blind you with tears
Like a lover
It will make your reflection a wobbling photo of grief.”
Just as peeling an onion will involve tears, so too will a relationship cause pain and emotion. Duffy wants to show a ‘truthful’ view of love and not just the usual meaningless view people usually express at Vaelntine’s day through ‘cute cards’. Duffy even suggests here that the relationship will provide painful memories that will stay with you forever.
However, Duffy also wants to portray the darker and passionate side of love that builds to the striking closing lines. She describes how
‘Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
Possessive and faithful’.
Just as eating an onion will be a spicy and sharp experience, so too will the experience of love be powerful and linger even after the relationship is over. Duffy’s word choice of ‘fierce’ strengthens the power of the relationship. It is also interesting that she is describing the possessive qualities of the relationship, suggesting that love can make people jealous of each other and want to cling together, perhaps in a self-destructive way. Unsurprisingly, the lover in the poem is reluctant to accept this onion as a gift and Duffy uses a short command ‘Take it’ to show that this is real love and you have to accept the good and the bad, not just the fairytale promise of usual Valentine’s day gifts.
Immediately before the closing lines, Duffy uses some ambiguity to describe the ultimate end of the relationship, building to the potentially unpleasant darker side of break ups. She describes:
“Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring,
If you like.”
Here Duffy’s onion is presented like a wedding ring due to it’s similarly coloured rings. This is a playfully ambiguous image as it makes a wedding ring seem unnecessary and silly. ‘Shrink’ also has the connotations of something losing importance, perhaps suggesting that marriage devalues love and is only an option ‘if you like’. This builds up to the closing lines where she deals with the more frequent and more destructive end of relationships.
In conclusion, Duffy has created a poem that sets out to challenge the conventional view of fairytale love as promised by traditional Valentine’s Day gifts. She would rather people entered into a relationship accepting the good and the bad. Therefore, her onion metaphor is a striking technique and makes us realise that love can lead to haunting memories. The closing lines of the poem really hammer this home as they deal with the pain that can stay with people forever.
Duffy’s closing lines depict the end of the relationship and are striking through her use of imagery.
“Lethal,
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
Cling to your knife.”
The onion is seen as being chopped up violently by a knife. Just as this act severs the onion, so too Duffy is suggesting the loving relationship is ending suddenly and forcefully. Duffy’s word choice of ‘Lethal’, which has the connotations of death, suggests that the end of a relationship can leave both lovers feeling scarred and bitter. This is reinforced by the image of the onion’s smell remaining on your fingers after cutting it. Therefore, the memories of love will forever haunt you after the relationship is over.
These striking closing lines are skilfully prepared for by Duffy throughout the entire poem. She initially prepares for them by presenting the positive qualities of love. In the first few lines of the poem, Duffy compares love to the onion, which is
“a moon wrapped in brown paper
(that) promises light
like the careful undressing of love.”
Here, Duffy suggests the romantic feelings that lovers have in the beginning stages of their relationship. Moons are often romantic symbols of love. Duffy uses ‘light’ imagery to suggest promise and beauty. She even playfully suggests that peeling off the layers of the onion is like taking off clothes to make love. At this point, love is shown to have much promise at the start.
However, she quickly begins to build to the darker and striking presentation of love’s more realistic and darker side. In the second verse, she extends the metaphor of the onion.
“It will blind you with tears
Like a lover
It will make your reflection a wobbling photo of grief.”
Just as peeling an onion will involve tears, so too will a relationship cause pain and emotion. Duffy wants to show a ‘truthful’ view of love and not just the usual meaningless view people usually express at Vaelntine’s day through ‘cute cards’. Duffy even suggests here that the relationship will provide painful memories that will stay with you forever.
However, Duffy also wants to portray the darker and passionate side of love that builds to the striking closing lines. She describes how
‘Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
Possessive and faithful’.
Just as eating an onion will be a spicy and sharp experience, so too will the experience of love be powerful and linger even after the relationship is over. Duffy’s word choice of ‘fierce’ strengthens the power of the relationship. It is also interesting that she is describing the possessive qualities of the relationship, suggesting that love can make people jealous of each other and want to cling together, perhaps in a self-destructive way. Unsurprisingly, the lover in the poem is reluctant to accept this onion as a gift and Duffy uses a short command ‘Take it’ to show that this is real love and you have to accept the good and the bad, not just the fairytale promise of usual Valentine’s day gifts.
Immediately before the closing lines, Duffy uses some ambiguity to describe the ultimate end of the relationship, building to the potentially unpleasant darker side of break ups. She describes:
“Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring,
If you like.”
Here Duffy’s onion is presented like a wedding ring due to it’s similarly coloured rings. This is a playfully ambiguous image as it makes a wedding ring seem unnecessary and silly. ‘Shrink’ also has the connotations of something losing importance, perhaps suggesting that marriage devalues love and is only an option ‘if you like’. This builds up to the closing lines where she deals with the more frequent and more destructive end of relationships.
In conclusion, Duffy has created a poem that sets out to challenge the conventional view of fairytale love as promised by traditional Valentine’s Day gifts. She would rather people entered into a relationship accepting the good and the bad. Therefore, her onion metaphor is a striking technique and makes us realise that love can lead to haunting memories. The closing lines of the poem really hammer this home as they deal with the pain that can stay with people forever.