Cards (4)

    • “Not a red rose or satin heart.”
    • Word choice
    • Shows that Duffy rejects normal romantic gifts, beginning the poem on a negative note.
    • Traditional symbols of love are clichéd, and lack any real meaning.
    • “It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.”
    • Imagery - metaphor
    • The brown skin of the onion covers the white vegetable inside. This brown skin is the wrapping paper of the gift: the white onion inside is the moon.
    • “It promises light“
    • Word choice
    • The moons ‘light,’ represents love. Moonlight often provides a romantic setting.
    • ’Light,’ also represents the truth.
    • “like the careful undressing of love.”
    • Imagery - simile
    • Suggests that the layers of the onion are like the layers of someone‘s personality. The onion represents discovery, stripping away outer layers to reveal the person beneath.
    • “Careful,” suggests tenderness and affection allowing barriers to come down and expose themselves.
    • The peeling of the onion conveys the emotional/ sexual image of undressing.