valentine- context/content/structure

• context:

  • modern poet
  • poet laureate
  • wanted this poem to apply to all relationships
• structure:

  • written in free verse
  • perhaps represents how her relationship is unique and doesnt follow anyone else’s conventions
  • the poem is a list of ways the onion symbolises love
  • the layers reveal the meaning of the love gradually
  • the tone is playful but the reported insistence that the partner takes the gift could be seen as either encouraging or forceful
• content:

  • extended metaphor for how an onion better represents their relationship than any other thoughtless gift
  • duffy is criticising the cliched way we speak/think about love and relationships
  • she doesn’t idealise her love; she just wants to be honest about it