Valentine : Poem Anthology

“Not a red rose..”

“Or a satin heart.”

She begins the open by critiscing the typical and meaningless gifts associated with Valentine’s Day

She sets a tone of both critique and intrigue for the poem

She is confronting society’s expectations and shallow gift giving

Direct and abrupt tone

“I give..”

“You an onion”

Personal pronouns and direct address

Symbolises it is directly to her love that she is giving the onion

Sets up the extended metaphor of an onion

Used to represent the complexities of love

Critiques the shallow modern romance

The gesture is significant and real

“It promises light..”

“Like the careful undressing of love.”

She compares the onion to the light

It suggests the positive connotations of love and the happiness you feel when in love

She expresses her happiness through the onion

It promising light suggests love is attractive at first

However, it sets the tone and foreshadows love may turn dark later on

Something you can’t get from normal gifts

Simile of peeling back an onion to peel back the layers of love

“I am trying to be truthful..”

“Not a cute card or a kissogram.”

Personal pronouns

Used to highlight how the onion is a direct and personal gift

She contrasts it to traditional Valentines gifts

She is justifying her honesty and critique of gifts

She is critical of the impersonality of typical gifts and kissograms

“I give you an onion…”

“It’s fierce kiss will stay on your lips.”

Repition of “I give you an onion”

Symbolises how the extended metaphor and connections of the unwrapping of love remain true throughout the relationship

Acts as a refrain for the poem

The adjective fierce and later lethal create the idea of the instability of the speaker as a sinister tone is used

It highlights the dangers of love and heartbreak

Even when love is there, there can be sadness alongside love

And just like an onion, love stays with you

“Cling to..”

“Your knife.”

Lethal and cling to your knife could represent the hurt and heartbreak that comes with love

Ends on a sinsiter tone suggesting that it can end in heartbreak

As an onion makes you cry, so can love

Cling shows how love never leaves you even when out of the relationship, the memories and lessons you learnt during it stay with you

End of the dramatic monologue

Used throughout the amplify the perspective that love has become streamline by mainstream discourse and Valentine’s Day no longer truly represents what it should