How does Carol Ann Duffy vividly capture the pain that love can bring in ‘The ‘Darling’
Letters’ and ‘Valentine’?
the 'darling' letters
stanza one
stanza two
stanza three
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ideas
the imagery of an animal coming out of hibernation, with the lighting hurting its eyes is present in the quote 'some keep them in shoe boxes away from the light, sore memories blinking out as the lid lifts'
suggestive sentence starters
The poet goes on to reflect that…
- This is followed by the similar idea that..
- At this point in the poem, the poet introduces the idea of…
- The opening to the next stanza has a different tone of voice…
- The poet then uses a striking metaphor comparing the … to…..
- Here she is suggesting that…
- She concludes by ..
the primary thoughts one feels when looking at the love letters again - embarrassment, pain, nostalgia.
At this point in the poem, Duffy introduces the idea of the primary feelings which resurface in the mind, such as pain and embarrassment.
Duffy introduces the emotion of embarrassment to the reader, noting the 'private jokes' they had that were once hilarious, but are now just dull and uninteresting. not only is there embarrassment in the 'no longer comprehended' private jokes, there is the mention of recklessness, which one would sigh at and think, 'what on earth was I doing?', all in the rapid rush that is love, when actions and words are not often considered.
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the main focus in this stanza is the open and joyous effect a love affair can have on a person
the poet goes onto reflect the consequential opening of feelings and joy amid the course of a love affair
Duffy adds a slightly cynical note into her reflections, mirroring the state of the relationship over a period of time with the love letters which 'start with Darling; end in recriminations'
here the poet focuses on the stereotypical palm reader's prediction, that you will be with this man forever, and how she believed that as a young lover, in the quote resembling the action of palmistry, 'the fingers trace each line and see the future then'. the word 'Always' followed by the ellipsis suggests the reflection of that word, and how it was never meant to be forever and 'always'
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Carol Ann Duffy has come to a conclusion about love to finish the last stanza of her poem.
Duffy concludes by reaching a realistic note on the action of continuously looking at the letters, and the negative effects of reminiscing on lost and now dead love
there is a similar sound in the quote ' the heart thudding like a spade on buried bones' and is one of the many images of death in 'The 'Darling' letters'. both actions are dull, and the action of digging up buried bones is widely regarded as disrespectful and a fruitless exercise, rounding off the conclusion of you are only reminding yourself of something you have lost and can never get back
introduction
what is similar/the same?
what is different?
both poems defer from the traditional aspects of love, such as satin hearts, red roses, or a kissogram
this is the explanation behind the ironic titles
the way the two poems are structured is completely different - 'the darling letters' has three stanzas, each with equal numbers of lines, whereas 'valentine' has an extremely loose organisation, where the size diminishes with random isolated sentences/phrases
there is a significant difference in style of the two poems - 'the darling letters are a lot more personalised, explaining 'my own' experiences. on the other hand, 'valentine' is extremely generalised and almost conversational, with spontaneous ideas
'Valentine'
the metaphor of the onion
the deeply ironic and misleading title
the voice and structure
the texture - brown, papery skin - mirrors a gift wrapped in brown paper - how something precious does not need to be wrapped in highly decorated paper
the structure of the onion resembles the pattern of love - how it can shrink over time, and how the onion shrinks as you get to the centre
the smell which hangs around for long time, for example on one's breath, is used as a replication of how love never really dies, and it can stay with us for long periods of time
'like a moon wrapped in brown paper'
'its scent will cling to your fingers'
Duffy uses the peeling of the onion's layers in that of discovering the character of your loved one - how you have to do it gently so as not to hurt them
'like the careful undressing of love’
Duffy uses the ironic title to dismiss traditional, commercialised views of love, such as satin hearts or flowers
using the onion as a metaphor for a valentine's gift
the randomised organisation fo the lines replicates the inconsistent pattern that a love affair often has
The viewpoints of the poem
duffy uses the onion to illustrate ambivalent views on love
such as in the quote 'will blind you with tears like a lover'
this quote suggests how one can be seriously hurt in a relationship, when you're in such a vulnerable situation with another being the navigator of your feelings, but also the positive side, about how you can be so in love with someone that they can do no wrong in your eyes
Paragraph organisation
The significance of the title
Onion imagery
Misleading
Ironic
structure and tone
ambivalent
Duffy uses many phrases as a double meaning, such as 'it will blind you like a lover
diminishes as the poem progresses
mirrors the inevitable course of love, and how it lessens as time goes on
interior thoughts and feelings of anger, regret, heartache
'blind you with tears like a lover'
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topic sentence
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‘Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring’
The word ‘shrink’ implies that marriage is restrictive, displaying the unromantic side, the downsides of marriage with the cynical view of the poem.
Conclusion