The poetess compares the onion to a ‘moon’. The moonlight is the predictable symbol of romance. The onion, described as a moon, throws light on the characters, to discover each other with “the careful undressing of love”. The layers of the onion are like the layers of someone’s personality. Duffy describes that true love is not based on the appearance of someone, but in discovering the true personality of the other.
Throughout the poem, the poetess compares love to an onion. Onions provoke tears while love is meant to bring happiness and joy. Duffy goes on to say “blind you with tears” “like a lover”; the poet refers to crying over somebody loved like you would when cutting an onion. Being ‘blinded’ suggests not being able to see straight, as when one is in love, he is blinded and can not see any faults in their lover. Duffy uses imagery to make the reader realise how everybody sees love in a different way. The unpleasant scent of an onion causes tears that when crying everything seems ‘wobbly’. The word ‘photo’ represents a captured moment that would not last. ‘Wobbling’ explains that tears were split in which ones ‘reflection’ could be seen. ‘Grief’ has a negative implication which is used to describe sadness, loss and pain. This stanza tells us how the poet was hurt by her partner. Duffy tells us how love is not always a happy experience.
Stereotypically love is viewed as something gentle and subtle which is the opposite of how the poetess sees it. The word ‘fierce’ has negative suggestions as it is associated with aggression. The kiss of an onion being describes as ‘fierce’ suggests that onions have a strong scent and a ‘possessive’ scent that will stay with you for long and is hard to get rid of. The fact that the poetess uses ‘fierce’ indicates that their love
In love, one can never be fully certain of the lover’s feelings and this insecurity can only be broken by eternal commitment, which is the wedding. The inside layers of an onion get smaller ‘loops’ – circles. Circles are eternal: they have no start or end and represents how love should be infinite. ‘Wedding –ring’ is a final promise lovers make to one another when getting married and the ‘ring’ is the representation of their promised forever. The poet suggests insecurity by giving the lover an option as if she is unsure on her lovers feeling: ‘if you like’. This tells us that in love every person has a sense and feeling of insecurity that can only be solved by being eternal binded. The word ‘lethal’ is another negative word suggesting the dangerous and devastating nature of love. The poem suggests that the poet considers love to be deadly and fatal. Duffy indicated that love hits without warning and it is unexpected, just like an onions scent hits one. Through this we are shown that love gives no warning that it’s coming therefore it being unpredictable.
The poem valentine is an unusual poem as it expresses a different point to the usual thoughts of love. Duffy uses many negative words in the poem to make the reader consider how love can be dangerous and insecure and can never be justified whether the lover’s feelings are equally strong.