Valentine

Summary of 'Valentine' by Carol Ann Duffy

'Valentine' explores the notion of romantic love in the context of a relationship. The poem presents love as a complex emotion that can consume a person. In the poem, the narrator takes an unconventional approach when giving a gift on Valentine's day, as, instead of 'a red rose or a satin heart', they gift their partner 'an onion'.

Context of 'Valentine'

Biographical Context

Carol Ann Duffy is a Scottish poet. She started writing poetry from a young age and was first published by the bookseller Bernard Stone when she was 15. In 1983, Duffy won the National Poetry Competition and, in 2009, she achieved the position of Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, becoming the first woman to receive the position since its creation in 1616.

Duffy was in a relationship with the poet Jackie Kay for 15 years. As a poet who also happens to be openly lesbian, Duffy often subverts traditional expectations of relationships and romance in her poems. For instance, 'Valentine' not only examines the idea of love in a relationship but also critiques the modern, materialistic approach to Valentine's day.

Literary Context

'Valentine' was initially written after a radio producer asked Carol Ann Duffy to write an original piece on Valentine's Day.

Valentine can be considered a postmodern poem because it deconstructs and criticises traditional ideas of love. Traditionally, on Valentine's Day, you would expect a 'cute card' or a 'red rose'; however, Duffy presents the gift of 'an onion'. Instead of the heteronormative ideals portrayed in romantic comedies and traditional romance stories, Duffy subverts our expectations, deconstructs heteronormative ideals of love, and presents the multi-faceted nature of love through the object of an onion.

In the poem, Duffy uses free verse to create an irregular form and structure. This style is comparable to the writing of metaphysical poets, such as John Donne, who approached complicated thoughts on society by presenting ordinary objects and concepts in new and unique ways.

This style isn't unique to 'Valentine', as it can be found across Duffy's writing. For instance, in her 1999 collection, The World's Wife, Duffy gave female perspectives to various male figures in history.

'Valentine' Poem Analysis

The Title of 'Valentine'

What do you think of when you hear the noun Valentine? Perhaps something like candle-lit dinners, boxes of chocolates and other romantic clichés.

The title 'Valentine' has these connotations of traditional romance, indicating that the poem will centre on the topic of love. However, the expectations set by this title are subverted throughout the poem, as Duffy likens the feeling of love to the object of 'an onion'.

Fig. 1 - Valentine's day: expectations vs reality.

Form

This poem is written in the form of a dramatic monologue with a first-person narrator who directly addresses the reader. The use of the first-person pronouns 'I' and 'we', combined with the second person 'you', creates a direct tone between the poem's narrator and its reader.

The poem is also written in free verse (it has no regular stanza lengths or rhyme scheme), creating a fragmented tone as the poem flows in some areas and stops and starts in others. This lack of rhyme scheme, or specified rhythm, makes 'Valentine' stand out from traditional romantic poems such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning's 'Sonnet 43'.

Structure

'Valentine' consists of seven stanzas. The length of these stanzas varies from one single line to six lines. None of the stanzas has a rhyme scheme.

Stanza One

The first stanza of the poem is made up of a single, one-sentence line, opening the poem with an abrupt and blunt tone. The opening sentence of 'not a red rose or a satin heart' juxtaposes the connotations of the poem's title, 'Valentine', showing us that this won't be a typical romantic poem.

Stanza Two

The second stanza consists of four lines and builds on how the first line subverts the readers' expectations of the poem from its title. Instead of the usual Valentine's gifts, the narrator has decided to give their partner 'an onion'.

Stanza Three

The third stanza consists of five lines, beginning with the monosyllabic (one syllable) line: 'Here'. This stanza focuses on how love can have a negative impact on a person, blinding them 'with tears'.

Stanza Four and Five

The next two stanzas are both short sentences on single lines, enforcing the poem's blunt tone.

In the fifth stanza, the phrase 'not a red rose or a satin heart' in the first stanza is repeated. This time the narrator is not giving a 'cute card or a kissogram' The repetition of the phrase 'not a' highlights how the narrator is intentionally not giving a gift that one would expect to receive on Valentine's Day.

Stanza Six

The penultimate stanza is made up of five lines. This stanza uses the metaphor of the onion to portray love as possessive. This stanza uses fewer end-stopped lines (lines ending with a full stop), with only the first and final lines ending with a full stop.

Stanza Seven

The final stanza is made up of six lines. Once again, love is portrayed as an emotion that clings to another, consuming them. Lines 1, 3, 4 and 6 are end-stopped, finishing the poem with a blunt tone.

Poetic Devices

Enjambment

Duffy occasionally uses enjambment (one line continuing into the other without punctuation breaks) in her poem. For example, in lines four to five in the second stanza, the thought that the onion 'promises light / like the careful undressing of love' is carried across two lines. This use of enjambment compliments her use of free verse by allowing the narrator's thoughts to flow freely.

End-stopped Lines

Every stanza in the poem finishes with an end-stopped line (full stops at the end of the line). Duffy uses end-stopped lines to create a direct tone and enforce her ideas throughout the poem.

Language Devices

Simile

The poem uses one simile (figure of speech where one thing is compared to another):

The image of the onion blinding 'you with tears' in this simile suggests that relationships are not always perfect, as they can cause hurt as much as they can bring happiness.

Metaphor

Duffy uses the metaphor (figure of speech where something is something else) of the onion as a symbol for love throughout the poem:

We know that the onion is not literally 'a moon wrapped in brown paper.' The use of descriptive language suggests that love has many layers by creating the image that, while the onion may seem dull on the outside, the inside of the onion 'promises light / like the careful undressing of love.'

Personification

Duffy personifies (gives human characteristics to something which isn't human) the onion throughout the poem, adding an element of life to it and its representation of love. A notable example of this is in the final stanza;

The active verbs, 'shrink' and 'cling', portray love as a powerful emotion – it clings to you just as the onion's scent can cling to your knife.

Fig. 2 - 'Its scent will cling to your fingers, cling to your knife'.

Imagery and Tone in 'Valentine'

Imagery

Duffy uses simplistic imagery to present love in a direct manner rather than complicate the idea of love with complex language.

Romantic Gifts

Two of the poem's lines use the image of traditionally romantic gifts, including 'a red rose', 'a satin heart', 'a cute card' and 'a kissogram', to juxtapose these traditional symbols of love against the metaphor of the onion.

This juxtaposition can be linked to the postmodern context of the poem, as it deconstructs the reader's – and society's – expectations of romance by presenting it in a new light.

The Onion

The onion is a significant image throughout the poem as it is used to represent love. To associate an onion with Valentine's Day at first seems unusual; however, through the metaphor 'it is a moon wrapped in brown paper', we are encouraged to view the onion in a different light. It may appear dull on the outside, but underneath, 'it promises light'.

The imagery of the onion is used to show how love has many different sides and effects on a person. To quote Shrek: 'onions have layers'.

Tone

The poem has a direct and blunt tone, and it is clear that the poem aims to provide an alternative view on the romantic idea of Valentine's Day.

Think back to the structure of the poem - how does Duffy's use of free verse impact the tone? The enjambment, short sentences and end-stopped lines cause the poem to stop and start, creating a fragmented structure.

'Valentine' by Carol Ann Duffy: Themes

Romantic Love in 'Valentine'

Love is the core theme of 'Valentine'. While Duffy does not present love in a traditional way, she still frames it as a powerful emotion through the use of powerful adjectives such as 'fierce kiss', 'possessive and faithful', and 'lethal'. This use of language shows how the poet views love as a strong, often overwhelming emotion.

The metaphor of the onion as a representation of romantic love allows Duffy to explore how love can impact a person. Remember how Duffy's style is comparable to the writing of metaphysical poets? Her use of the unconventional object of 'an onion' to represent love is a great example of this. The onion allows Duffy to explore the emotion of love in a variety of ways. While love endures by clinging 'to your fingers', it can also 'blind you with tears'. While, at first, the onion appears to be a strange object to represent love or give to someone on Valentine's, Duffy's use of language highlights how love can hurt us and stay with us at the same time.

Heartache in 'Valentine'

There is also uncertainty around love in 'Valentine' in addition to fear of heartache.

For example, in the third stanza, the narrator states that the onion and love 'will make your reflection / a wobbling photo of grief'.

A tentative tone appears at points in the poem, created by imperative sentences (a sentence that gives a demand) being followed by more passive sentences. In the final stanza, the poet writes:

The end-stopped line, 'take it', is a blunt, imperative sentence commanding the reader to 'take' the onion. However, the line which follows takes a more timid and passive tone, stating 'if you like'. These contrasting tones cause the narrator to seem uncertain and afraid of getting their heart broken.

Materialism in 'Valentine'

As a postmodern poem, Valentine takes a critical approach to materialistic portrayals of love, particularly the act of gift-giving on Valentine's. By subverting the expectation of receiving 'a red rose or a satin heart' and gifting an onion instead, Duffy juxtaposes the reader's traditional expectations of romance with her own ideas and imagery.

The onion is presented in an honest light: 'it will blind you with tears' and 'its scent will cling to your fingers'. The gift of such an ordinary (and not always positively viewed) object directly opposes the materialistic gifts associated with Valentine's Day.