Valentine Flashcards
What does the title ‘Valentine’ suggest?
Title suggests that the poem will deal with conventional gifts of love. This is due to it having connotations of flowers and chocolates and of course the Saint Valentine.
What does the first line of the poem, ‘Valentine’, show?
“Not a red rose or a satin heart.”
This line shows rejection of traditional ideas of love and conveys that this poem will not discuss traditional gifts through the use of the word “Not”. Also, the poet rejects these ideas by showing that she believes that these gifts such as ‘red rose’ and ‘satin heart’ lack meaning.
What simile in the second stanza indicates hope within a relationship?
“It promises light like the careful undressing of love”
Explain how the poet uses an extended metaphor to represent love and relationships
The poet uses an extended metaphor by saying that instead of giving a traditional gift for valentine’s day, she says “I give you an onion” and continues this metaphor throughout.
what does the line “The careful undressing of love” refer to?
Refers to sexual relationships and the layers of opening up as onions have many layers to them and the further back you peel, the more it reveals. This too can be said about relationships
What metaphor is used in the first stanza to represent the beginning of a relationship?
“I give you an onion. It is a moon”
This compares the onion to the moon
What simile in the third stanza shows that just as onions can make you cry, a relationship too can cause pain and heartache?
“It will blind you with tears like a lover.”
What metaphor in the third stanza also shows how relationships can cause pain? Explain how it does this.
“It will make your reflection a wobbling photo of grief” is a metaphor that shows that relationships can bring pain. It explains the appearance of someone after crying and although this can be caused by an onion, it can also be done by relationships. This is especially shown through the word “grief” as this is strong in emphasising feelings of hurt.
What does the like “I’m trying to be truthful” add and change to the poem as a whole?
This line changed the tone from a hopefulness, light hearted tone to much more brutal and negative. It is also a direct statement and shows how the speaker wants to be more honest and realistic about love and shows her desire for honesty within a relationship.
what technique is used to show the rejection of traditional gifts further in the sentence “Not a cute card or a kissogram.” ?
The repetition of “Not” in this line from the first shoes the rejection of the traditional gifts and the idea of these gifts having no meaning.
How is repetition used in stanza 6?
“I give you an onion. It’s fierce kiss will stay on your lips, possessive and faithful as we are, for as long as we are.”
Repetition of the extended metaphor “I give you an onion” is used to show how the speaker truly feels that an onion is a more realistic symbol of a relationship.
Show how the speaker explains that she understand that the relationship might not last forever in stanza 6.
The speaker does this through the use of word choice, “as we are, for as long as we are.” This shows that onions will eventually die and so can relationships. She is accepting that relationships don’t always last forever and this describes that it’s important to be aware of this fact.
What metaphor is used in stanza 7 to show that just as an onions rings get smaller, so can the love in a relationship?
The metaphor, “It’s platinum loops shrink to a wedding/ring” compares the white rings of an onion to a wedding ring- the ultimate sign is commitment. However the word choice of “shrink” implies being trapped.
Explain the metaphor in the final stanza and show how this affects the poem as a whole.
“Lethal.
It’s scent will cling to your fingers,
cling to your knife.”
The metaphor is “scent will cling to your fingers, cling to your knife”. These last two lines imply the smell of an onion and the repetition of “cling” suggests that just as with the smell of an onion can stay with you, so can the memories of a person which can be bitter/painful. The violent imagery of the knife is very different to the interesting, fun imagery displayed in the first part of the poem. This conveys that relationships can even end violent and turns the tone very cynical and bitter which suggests that the speakers disappointed by love.
Explain the effect of sentence structure in this poem.
The entire poem, ‘Valentine’ is written in free verse, which is written in free verse, which means that there is no obvious rhyme scheme or rhythm. This is important as it echoed the naturalness of speech and also highlights that love and relationships have no pattern.
