Carol Ann Duffy Explores Different Types Of

Relationships In .Valentine. And .Before You Were Mine. Essay, Research Paper

The title of the poem .Valentine. written

by Carol Ann Duffy is very misleading. One would expect to read romantic love,

instead she writes about cynical love. She has obviously been hurt in previous

relationships. The poem starts off with a positive

statement-.Not a red rose, or a satin heart.. She states that she will not give

her lover a conventional valentine present. The harsh consonants give a feeling

of harshness. The poet has chosen to give her lover an

onion. She uses the onion to symbolize love. Like a person we never really know

what a person is really intending. She uses a metaphor to convey this idea. .I

give you an onion, it is moon wrapped in brown paper,.-With this creates an air

of mystery is created. .It promises light, like the careful undressing of

love..- A feeling of sensuality is created with the use of the repetition of

the .l. sound. The use of the word .Here. makes the

reader feel that the poet is in control. She continues with the extended

metaphor .it will blind you with tears. Not only will the onion make your eyes

water, the pain caused by a loved one has the same effect. The use of a simile

contributes to this viewpoint . like a lover, love distorts one.s vision. It

will mislead the reader into believing something that isn.t true. The pain can

make one feel bitter and disillusioned. The white space gives time for the

reader to reflect upon the section of the poem that they have just read. She

explains that she does not wish to be unkind. She is being realistic. .I.m

trying to be truthful..- alliteration, the repetition of the .t. sound gives it

the feeling of sincerity. .Not a cute card or a kiss-o-gram.- she does not

approve of commercial tokens of love. .I give you an onion.- She uses a

metaphor. .It.s fierce kiss will stay on you lip. the bitter taste on an onion

remains on a person.s lips. The memory of a kiss can stay with one forever.

.Possessive and faithful as we are, for as long as we are. She suggests that

love affairs only last for the time that two people are interested in each

other. She insists that he accepts her gift .Take it.. She denigrates marriage.

She compares the loops of an onion to a wedding ring and implies that marriage

can deaden love and passion. Marriage is lethal in her opinion. In the extended

metaphor she expresses her sentiments, sometimes people never recover from a

broken romance. They will continue to experience heartache, pain, bitterness.

.Its scent will cling to your fingertips, cling to your knife.. The repetition

of the word .cling. is effective. The word .knife. conveys the image of a

wound. The poet has obviously been hurt in previous relationships. On the contrast, another poem, .Before you

were mine., also written by Carol Ann Duffy is about mutual love between mother

and daughter. There are several different romances in this poem. The poet

considers her mother at three different times. In the first stanza she imagines

her mother as a teenager, ten years before I was born. .I.m 10 years away from

the corner that you laugh on with your pals.. She imagines her mother.s life,

she is young, carefree and without responsibility. She enjoys the company of

her friends, they shriek with laughter. .The three of you bend waist hold each

other on you knees and shriek at the pavement. She imagines her mother in a

polka-dot dress of the time. In her mind an image appears of the late

sex-goddess Marilyn Munroe in a scene from the film .Some like it hot.. .A

polka-dot dress blows round your legs, Marilyn. Once again Carol Ann Duffy uses

enjambment to give an empress ion she is trying to recreate the past in her

imagination. Caesura is used to introduce the girls. names. The names Maggie

McGeeney and Jean Duff suggest they are ordinary working-class, fun loving

girls. The poet continues to think about her

mothers. carefree days. .I.m not here yet. Her mother is unaware of the future

that lies ahead. .The thought of you does not occur.. The mother enjoys herself

at .dances in the ballroom with the thousand eyes, the fizzy movie tomorrows..

She still has dreams and hopes for the future, she dreams of the glamour seen

on the big screen. Caesura is used to show her thought process. At dances they

hoped that they might meet their future partner. .I knew you would dance like

that. She looks back at the days when her mum was free and uninhibited. She

admires her mother. She then introduces the title of the poem

.Before you were mine.. The reader is then able to sense a strong bond between

mother and child. The possessive pronoun .Mine. enforces the idea of a close

mother-daughter relationship. She can imagine her mother .ma. waiting to

reprehend her for being late. Knowing her mother has spirit she will think that

the punishment was nothi

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