Perhaps the poem is about hurt and pain. Duffy thinks an onion stands for the truth about love. The poem takes a deep look at love. It is not just about Saint Valentine's Day type love. It looks at what love is made up of, what makes a relationship meaningful.
Finally, how to explain that Cupid’s worshippers are poets? I would like read Marot’s poem as a map of Plato’s conception of love, accompanied by a Christian legend (or commentary). Diotima, the character of Plato’s Symposium identifies love as the springboard to individual progress: for outstanding individuals, love for the beautiful person can grow into artistic creativity and into longing for the divine and absolute beauty. While in Plato the meanings of love can be represented hierarchically, as a ladder, in Marot these meanings become the three concentric spheres, which compose the Temple de Cupido. Erotic love is the outer sphere of the temple.
This enables him to present the experience of first love as more intriguing and romantic. He is giving the reader something to relate to. He also quotes many symbols related to love in the poem such as ‘heart’ and ‘flowers’. In the line ‘I could not see a single thing’ he is emphasising that he is truly ‘blinded’ by love and he is experiencing the common symptoms of ‘first love’. The reader can relate to these symptoms and the text could compel emotions relating to love from the reader.
In Christopher Marlowe’s poem, a shepherd, in an idyllic way, enumerates his love for the beautiful nymph. Sir Walter Raleigh offers a response to the shepherd’s proposal through the keen eyes of the nymph. Both poems succeed in giving personal points of view concerning how each sees the nature of love. If each point of view is placed side by side, we see an optimism in contrast to a pessimism struggle in the ideas of the poets. In “Passionate Shepherd,” we see Marlowe paint a peaceful scene, where the shepherd promises to fulfill all his love’s dreams.
Robert Frost's poem, “Choose Something Like a Star” and John Keat's literary work,“Bright Star” share a common subject, but convey altered messages that are displayed through different and contradictory techniques.The theme in "Bright Star" is that when in love nothing is more beautiful than your lover. While the theme of "Choose Something Like a Star" is that humans need to be individuals. Both poets gaze for this same quality in the stars, but thematically and stylistically each poem has its similarities and differences. Both renowned poets, Keat and Frost agree that the star is abstracted from humanity as they know it, however Keats takes a personal approach to the star, whereas Frost takes a scientific approach towards the star and tries to acquire from it for social reasons.“Bright Star” contains lofty, formal kinds of words such as “thou art” and “splendor hung aloft” to show reverence toward the star. Keat’s specific word choices also contribute to the theme of the poem that man wishes happiness would last forever.
The beloved in Sonnet 130 is described in an unappealing manner, and yet, because of his honest depiction of her the poet-speaker considers his love to be true. The sonnet suggests true, authentic feelings can only be expressed when traditional conventions are set aside. This essay will examine the various technical features used by Shakespeare to emphasise this theme. The discussion will also consider the context in which the sonnet was written. It is immediately clear that Sonnet 130 challenges traditional concepts of romantic love.
The purpose of this poem is to celebrate his mother in laws life and way of living in order to honour her. A strong technique used in Going is the use of Similes, and example of this is in the line “bruise like a blue kiss”. This line is very important in order to keep the poem positive as it turns the negative action of a bruise into a much gentler situation by comparing it to a blue kiss. The tone of this poem is light hearted, unlike Daddy; it is able to remain positive despite the subject matter. A mood of love and warmth surrounds this poem and can be seen through the use of the simple word that begins the poem “mum”.
Sylvia Plath's use of blank verse and simile in "Last Words", along with iambic pentameter and hexameter creates a picturesque view of how she visualizes her ideal burial. The use of simile, in comparison to various subjects in the poem, paint a vivid picture of what Plath is trying to convey. Plath states, "I should sugar and preserve my days like fruit" (Plath, line 10). Another good example is, "I do not trust the spirit. It escapes like steam" (Plath, line 15).
Keats has grown as an individual in his past life until he met his love, which led to the creation of his most popular odes. Beck had stated “to write something which is an entity in its self which all the meaning can be found by simply exploring the way words were in the poem” this is shown through Keats’ poems with the word ‘love’ in both La Belle Dame Sans Merci and Ode on a Grecian Urn. ‘And sure in language strange she said - I love thee true’ the effects of this line is to exemplify the differences of love. A language barrier does not stop the illusion of love, seduction and emotion involved. The repetition of the word ‘never, never’ in ‘Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss’ emphasizes the idea of reoccurring love that is constantly chasing.
Commentary on Valentine by Carol Ann Duffy Unlike our normal concepts of Valentine’s Day, Carol Ann Duffy presented valentine in a completely different perspective. In her cacophonic poem “Valentine”, she uses an onion as a metaphorical object to describe love; she wants to show her meaning of “true love”, also the negative side of love. “I am trying to be truthful”. This shows the objective of the poet writing this poem. The poet is trying to be honest on the issue about love.