Consider the Role and Treatment of Love in Carol Ann Duffy’s Valentine.

Since the beginning of human existence love has earned a meaning of pure bliss and wild passion between two people that cannot be broken. Through out time the meaning of love has had its slight shifts but for the most part, maintains a positive value. In the poem “Love Should Grow Up Like a Wild Iris in the Fields,” the author, Susan Griffin expresses that this long lost concept of love is often concealed by the madness of everyday life and reality. In the poem, Griffin uses many literary elements to help convey the importance of true love. The usage of imagery, symbolism, and other literary techniques really help communicate Griffins’ meaning

Throughout “Love Should Grow up Like an Wild Iris in the Fields” Susan Griffin provokes the readers to think twice about why they consistently enslave themselves with the burden of daily monotony, instead of enjoying the simplicity of love. Griffin uses two metaphors in her poem when describing love, as a flower, as well as the iris of an eye. Her comparisons are both interesting as well as accurate.

Continuing on from this, the monosyllabic line ‘does not rust’ is assertive as he emphasises the permanence of the father’s love; the internal rhyme ‘brightens as it tightens’ reflects not just the rhythm of the plaiting motion but also the fluidity of the movement as the wheat is burnished by the constant tightening and smoothening; as he shapes it into a halo-like crown with the luminescence of gold (transformation). However, the ‘throwaway love-knot’ is a contradictory/juxtaposition as the oxymoron suggests that it is both disposable yet also a cherished air loom.

“Love Poem” by John Frederick Nims is an excellent of example of an author using many types of literary terms to emphasize his theme of a love that is imperfect yet filled with acceptance. In, this poem Nims uses assonance, metaphor, and imagery to support his theme of “Imperfect, yet realistic love”.

The poem “Chevrefoil (The Honeysuckle)” by Marie De France gladly spoke about lovers whose love was “so true, so pure” that it caused them to suffer and die on the same day (De France 167). This lay explores the themes of inseparable love, while keeping true to the underlying meaning of the hazel tree and the honeysuckle, while the speaker of the poem carries a jovial yet melancholy tone throughout the lay.

This contrasts sharply to the attitudes portrayed in ‘A kind of love some say’. The last stanza of the poem shows the persona talking about emotional pain, ‘Sadists will not learn that Love, by nature, exacts a pain, Unequalled on the rack. This shows us that the emotional pain of love can be worse than the actual physical pain described in the poem. This shows the

Throughout the poem, a number of literary devices are used. For example: “or press an ear against its hive”. Using this metaphor, Billy Collins is comparing the body of a poem to the hive of a bee. The hive of a bee appears to be something dangerous and unknown, just like a new poem, never before seen, with which one is unfamiliar. Using this metaphor, Billy Collins is

Love is not always an easy adventure to take part in. As a result, thousands of poems and sonnets have been written about love bonds that are either praised and happily blessed or love bonds that undergo struggle and pain to cling on to their forbidden love. Gwendolyn Brooks sonnet "A Lovely Love," explores the emotions and thoughts between two lovers who are striving for their natural human right to love while delicately revealing society 's crime in vilifying a couples right to love. Gwendolyn Brooks uses several examples of imagery and metaphors to convey a dark and hopeless mood that emphasizes the hardships that the two lovers must endure to prevail their love that society has condemned.

Through the use of poetic devices such as repetition or alliteration, the author originally describes what love is not capable of providing and defines love as unnecessary but by the end of the poem, the author reveals that love has some value.

The poem sits easily on a page and is visually satisfying, although this is in part due to the visual rhymes previously mentioned. This appearance though is false as the poems content is analysed but reinforces the theme of appearance and reality in the 4th stanza. Again, the "controlled" use of structure can be seen as adding to the poems "passion" showing a masterful combination of the two. The repetition of and permutations on the line: "my heart is breaking for a little love" is another structure that reinforces the poems meaning and show the despair that the poem communicates. The move away from the 1st person in the last two stanzas serves to provide a different perspective on the emotions discussed allowing a broader view than if the whole poem was in the first person, again this use of structure emphasises the underlying emotions.

The concept of the hunt in “Monologue for an Onion” is essential to understanding the poem’s commentary on human desire and failure to comprehend the intricacies of life. The heart, skin, and secret core are the three concepts attached to the idea of the hunt that humanity is on. They each contribute a vital piece to understanding just why the Onion is suggesting that humanity is flawed when it comes to their pursuit of happiness and finding life’s true meaning. The heart symbolizes both what is beautiful about the Onion and what is beautiful about humanity. Skin is the essence of the hunt taking place because it is the brush that the hunter has to go through to find its prize. The secret core is the mystery of life itself and

Love is an intense feeling of deep affection. This can be seen in Romeo and Juliet due to the degree that the young lovers go to for each other. This key theme is delineated when Romeo has a monologue about Juliet and how he feels about being banished to never see her again. He says, “’Tis torture and not mercy. Heaven is here, / Where Juliet lives, and every cat and dog / And little mouse, every unworthy thing, / Live here in heaven and may look on her, / But Romeo may not.” Shakespeare uses animal imagery to portray how jealous Romeo is of something as menial as animals, as well as depicting how he feels about not being able to see Juliet. Animal imagery can also be linked to the concept of the Great Chain of Being to show how inferior every living thing is compared to Juliet. This links with the theme love because it shows the audience how admirable Juliet is through Romeo’s eyes. The Great Chain of Being was an important belief in the Elizabethan worldview. However, even if the beliefs about humankind have radically changed, the magnitude of the love Romeo feels is timeless. In modern texts, there are scenes or chapters that mirror the type of over-exaggerated language used in the play, also known as a hyperbole. Shakespeare uses hyperboles to accent Romeo’s overly dramatic character. Another example of love in the play is when Juliet divulges into her soliloquy about seeing Romeo again. Love is shown when she says, “Give me my Romeo, / and when he shall die, / Take him and cut him out in little stars, / And he will make the face of heaven so fine / That all the world will be in love with night / And pay no worship to the garish sun.” Shakespeare uses celestial imagery to portray the depth of love that Romeo and Juliet share. The celestial imagery also shows the audience Juliet’s feelings, especially when

In this essay I shall explore the way poets Phillip Larkin and Elizabeth Jennings both show love. For Larkin I shall look at An Arundel tomb and Wild Oats and for Jennings I shall look at Absence and Disguises.

Carol Anne Duffy presents love and romance in a unique way that differentiates valentine from any other love poem. Throughout this poem carol expresses love though the original metaphor of an onion. This essay analyses how she does this so effectively and how she presents a range of ideas about love and romance.

has sucked his blood and hers and he is now using this flea as an