She describes details of other lessons and playtimes, especially one day when a rough boy told her the facts of life. stanza 2 lines 21-23.
At the end of the school year, when asked about how you where born, Mrs Tilscher didn’t let on, but there is a sense of growing excitement with the coming thunderstorm. This is mentioned in stanza 3 and lines 26-30.
Duffy includes details to set the scene and help us imagine the classroom ‘chalky pyramids (on the blackboard) / A window opened with a long pole. Stanza 1 and lines 6 and 7.
She uses similes and metaphors. ’the classroom glowed like a sweet shop.’ This emphasises how special the classroom was to a child, since a sweet shop is full of treats and surprises for children. This is mentioned in stanza 2 and in line 10.
’Brady and Hindley faded, like... a mistake’ this was a typical example of how Mrs Tilscher helped the children ’ erase’ their fears. This is mentioned in stanza 2 line 12. She uses this to rub out a mistake.
’Inky tadpoles.’ This description is very visual and helps us ‘see’ the blots and dashes as the children learnt to use ink pens. This is mentioned in stanza 3 and line 17.
The poet appears to our senses to help us experience the classroom more.
There are vivid descriptions, as if the poets memory is like a photograph, so travelling up the Blue Nile.
Valentine
Duffy uses an extended metaphor: she writes about her relationship as if it was an onion. ‘It will blind you with tears.’ (Relationships may cause people to be hurt)this is mentioned in stanza 3 and in line 7.
‘Its platinum hoops shrink like a wedding ring.’ ( An onion is platinum- coloured and is made up of rings). This is mentioned in stanza 7 and in line 19.
‘Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips.’ (the tangy taste to of the onion will stay on your lips after it has been eaten). This mentioned in stanza 6 and in line 14.
‘It’s scent will cling to your fingers.’ (the smell the scent of your loved one). This mentioned in stanza 7 and in line 22.
Otherwise her language and vocabulary is very simple- perhaps to suggest that she wants a simple, uncomplicated love.
She makes statements. ‘I give you an onion. It will blind you with tears...I am trying to be truthful.’ This makes Duffy sound definite and authoritative. This is mentioned in stanzas 2,3 and 6 and in lines 2, 7 and 13.
Sound
Mrs Tilscher’s class
There are many sounds mentioned, so we can hear the classroom as well as see it. ’Mrs Tilscher chanted... The laugh of a bell...A xylophone’s nonsense.’ As these three sounds mentioned they are in stanzas 1 and 2 and in lines 3, 8 and 16.
We can also smell the classroom air ‘the scent of a pencil...’ and almost ‘taste the electricity’ of the end of term and feel untidy, hot, fractious. These are mentioned in stanza 3 and in lines 15.
Duffy seems to be confiding in us and talks to us directly, so the poem sounds a bit like the patterns of everybody speech. The length of sentences is varied.
Valentine
There is no rhyme in the poem, and most of the poem sounds as if the lines are natural and spontaneous, being written down by the poet as they come to her. However, some of the sounds are carefully arranged.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips an onion has a fierce, tangy taste, just as a passionate lover has a fierce kiss. The s sounds may suggest a sinister mood, or may even sound like a couple kissing.
I think Duffy repeats I give you an onion because maybe she wants to reinforce it, or perhaps, that this is not joke? That she really is giving the person an onion, and really means it.
Form
Mrs Tilscher class
The first two stanzas are very innocent, the laugh of a ball swung by a running child, while the third and fourth are about gaining experience - the inky tadpoles changed... the heavy , sexy sky.
Each stanza moves us through the school year, so the poem ends at the end of the summer term.
Valentine
The poem does not have a regular form. The lines and stanzas are of irregular length. This could be for a number of reasons as it may suggest that love cannot be ordered and ‘regular’. It may suggest that her thoughts are going directly onto the paper, unshaped, giving a kind of urgency.
Traditional love poems are often very regular and may even rhyme: Duffy’s decision not to conform to this stereotype is further proof that her love goes beyond the ordinary and so is that much more special.
Ideas and attitudes
Mrs Tilscher’s class
She obviously felt very safe and secure and happy in Mrs Tilscher’s class. She emphasises how Mrs Tilscher taught her
