Valentine by Carol Ann Duffy

Valentine by Carol Ann Duffy

1. SUBJECT

   • a gift for a lover
   • an onion is a powerful gift of love
   • onion is a metaphor for love = poem is about love and gifts

2. FORM AND STRUCTURE

   • free verse
   • form echoes the form of an onion = layers
   • unconventional structure
     • Duffy's unconventional view
   • first person narrative

3. THEMES AND IDEAS

   • dismisses cliche ideas of love
   • love is dangerous
     • death of the relationship
       • 'knife'
   • against marriage
   • unwanted
     • 'cling'

4. LANGUAGE

   • simple and straight-forward
     • honest like love
       • doesn't need to be 'dressed up' in order for it to be special
   • 'I give you an onion'
     • repeated
       • reinstating point
       • struggle at first but then understand and accept it
     • people won't want usual gift so have to be forced upon them

5. LINGUISTIC TECHNIQUES

   • alliteration
     • 'cute card' and 'red rose'
   • lack of rhyme
     • unconventional view

6. IMAGERY

   • ROMANTIC
     • metaphor of 'moon'
       • glowing feeling at start of relationship
     • 'brown paper'
       • gift
   • 'not a...'
     • dismissing cliches
       • DIFFERENT kind of valentine
   • DANGER
     • 'blind you with tears'
     • 'fierce kiss'
     • 'lethal'
     • 'knife'
     • possessive