Valentine

(i) What are your impressions towards the speaker in this poem?

(ii) What are the speaker’s thoughts and feelings towards his foe? How does the
poet use diction and/or the image of an onion to convey these feelings?

Point Evidence Explanation in brief

The speaker is very His gift “will blind you with tears”, so The speaker makes an active /
passionate about he claims. a purposeful choice to show his
showing his love. / extreme passion and fervour
He claims that his gift will convey a
(affection) for the person he
affectionate towards “fierce kiss” that will linger long on
loves, as he claims his gift will
his loved one / the lips of anyone who bites into it.
“blind” or dazzle the person he
full of affection for “Its scent will cling to your fingers” loves.
his loved one
The speaker purposefully
prepares a gift that will be long-
lasting, showing his intentions
of wanting his loved one to
remember him always. This is
shown in the “fierce kiss” of the
onion scent on the loved one’s
(paramour’s) fingers.

I feel that the He calls it a “moon wrapped in The persona / speaker is trying
speaker is very brown paper”, showing his intentions his 100% best to be genuine
sincere about of giving his loved one the best of and sincere in his intentions,
making his gift very the best. such as giving something that is
meaningful / meaningful instead of simply
He is “trying to be truthful” and not
thoughtful. being a materialistic present.
give so-called worthless gifts like “a
cute card” or a “kissogram”.

The speaker is too “platinum loops shrink to a wedding A wedding ring is much more
optimistic / idealistic ring” than swirls of onion peel that
in believing that resemble the shape of a ring,
such a gift will be and they are simply not the
accepted same at all.
wholeheartedly. /
The speaker seems
to be a daydreamer.

The speaker is too “a wobbling photo of grief” Sounds rather obscene / lewd /
exaggerated / vulgar / cringeworthy / gives us
“a careful undressing of love”
distasteful in his goose pimples / makes us feel
descriptions of love disgusted
being so intense.

The speaker seems “knife” being mentioned Image is very violent – visual
to be too extreme imagery (disturbing)
and even a bit
sadistic in his
depiction of love.

Diction or image of the onion

Point Evidence Explanation in brief

The use of visual

imagery shows
how the speaker
_______________
_______________
_______________

The use of the

image of an “onion”
shows how the
speaker
successfully
_______________
_______________
_______________

The use of diction The onion “promises light” By describing the onion as a
(word choice) to giver of light, the speaker is also
showcase the showing that he himself wants to
metaphorical illuminate his love for his loved
significance of the one, and let it shine brightly and
onion conveys the genuinely.
speaker’s sincerity. The onion has a “fierce kiss” that is By describing the onion’s scent
deemed “possessive and faithful” as a “faithful” and “fierce kiss”,
the speaker wants to emphasise
/ reinforce that his love for his
loved one is such that it will last
forever.
By describing the onion whirls /
It is described as “Lethal”
swirls / peelings / whorls as
“lethal”, the speaker showcases
the depth of his love, which he
considers to be deadly like a
“knife”. This seems to suggest
that he is likely to go to
extremes to help his loved one
or to show his love.