stanza three

• • ”Not a cute card or kissogram.”
  • Single line stanza
  • Duffy rejects the cute symbols used on Valentine’s Day. Repetition of ’not’ further implies the rejection.
• • “Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips, possessive and faithful”
  • Metaphor / Personification
  • Images of jealousy and violence. The onion is compared to a jealous lover and the way their kiss at this point in the relationship would be a mixture of passion and punishment. Compassion to an onions smell: it clings stubbornly to our fingers when we cut it.
  • Word choice of ‘possessive,’ hints at obsessive love : this is turning into an unhealthy relationship.
• • “as we are, for as long as we are.”
  • Word choice
  • Suggests a relationship should only last as long as the lovers feel ‘possessive.‘ When they lose that intense interest in each other, the relationship should end.