The actual wording of Sonnet XLIII shows a more traditional language also by using words such as “thee” and phrases such as “ in my old griefs” these words and phrases are not normally used in modern language now.
STAGE ONE – manner of the poem-relationships of poet to the reader
The Valentine poem by Duffy appears to be a more informal and relaxed style of relaying the thoughts of love and it appears that the writer is trying to establish a more thoughtful way for the reader to think of love. By quoting something as unusual as an onion, which would not normally be associated with love in any particular way, it makes the reader really perhaps look at an onion in a different light, noticing that it does have an inner beauty, beyond the ugly brown skin, she quotes
“I give you an onion, it is a moon wrapped in a brown paper, and it promises light..”
This is making to reference beauty being more than skin deep.
The Sonnet XLIII by Browning is a much more structured poem and is more formal. It is not comparing love to a physical object; it describes the feeling of how much love the writer is feeling and also to what extent. The poet is trying to describe her innermost feelings to the reader and also trying to describe the extent of her love by using emotions, she writes
“I love thee freely..” and “I love the purely..” and also a phrase beginning “ In my old griefs”, these are personal feelings and not based on an object like the Valentine poem.
Tone and atmosphere
The Valentine poem has a most unusual tone to it. It is quirky in the sense that it uses a most unusual item to be associated with love. It is unique in itself for that same reason and for the way it breaks down the parts of an onion and relates that to how love can feel, it says
“Here. It will blind you with tears”
That is showing how strong the sensation of love can be and relating it to the power of an onion being able to make you cry. This poem does not try to be sensational in any way, but in its own right is sensational because it makes you think about something, which is so opposite to love and yet also as powerful as love in its own way. It says
“Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips forever”
This poem does not use the clichés often associated with love and this makes the poem quite unique, when you think of a love poem many people would generally think of hearts and roses amongst many other things, but not an onion! It says,
“Its scent will cling to your fingers, cling to your knife”
This is showing the intensity of love and it can sometimes take over, being quite clingy.
Brownings Sonnet on the other hand is a traditional love poem, it describes feelings to the reader, it says
“I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion put to use”
The poem appears to have a desperate need to show how deep the writer’s love is, it seems to try to stretch to many extremes to describe this and even wants the love to get better after death, it says,
“Smiles, tears of all my life and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.”
This is a more clichéd love poem, in the sense that it uses the niceties in life to describe love, it says
“I love thee to the level of every days most quiet need, by sun and candlelight”
it is also clichéd as it uses general emotions associated with love such as
“smiles” and “tears.”
STAGE 2 – poetic devices
In Valentine, there was clever use of an onion as an extended metaphor . The onion was compared to love in many ways, it suggested that there was a moon under the brown skin of the onion, this was making the reader thinking maybe of something beautiful lying under ugly clothing. It said that the onion would blind you with tears again this was showing and relating to how powerful an onion secretly could be and that the power of love could be as strong. It said that the fierce kiss of an onion would stay on your lips, possessive and faithful, just like the power of love can be. It also said that the scent of the onion would cling to your fingers and knife, again this shows how powerful love can be and not easy to shake off once there.
It said
“ it is the moon wrapped in brown paper, it promises light like the careful undressing of love”
By this the writer meant that on the outside the onion appears ordinary and quite thick skinned, but as the layers of the outer skins are peeled off, bit by bit the layers get thinner and you begin to see the inner brightness and beauty of the onion, this is trying to show that inside us all there is an inner beauty no matter if the outside is a bit tatty, you sometimes just have to peel back the layers to find it that inner beauty.
The imagery that she is using here is quite a romantic type, peaceful and loving.
She relates to the onions layers descending in size
“its platinum hoops shrink to a wedding ring”
Again I think here she is referring to the silvery skin inside the onion and eventually finding the right layer which is comfortable as a wedding ring – this is just finding the right level inside each other that we are comfortable with.
In Sonnet XLIII, Browning uses imagination and emotion as her imagery. She refers to the Sun and candlelight instead of saying day and night, quite a romantic way of writing it. She states that she ‘loves freely, purely and with passion”, these are all very emotional and deep internal feelings. She states “I love thee” each time to make each sentence a personal one and directed independently to the reader. Browning makes references to religion by referring to her lost saints, referring to loved ones who have passed away and also she says
“If God choose, I shall but love thee better after death”
This refers to the fact that she believes in God and the powers he has and the way he can influence your life and the fact that she believes in an afterlife and that God also can influence what happens there too! I believe that her religion gives her great strength and great beliefs and encouragement and this is shown by how she writes
“I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight. For the ends of being and ideal grace I love thee to the level of every days most quiet need, by sun and candle-light”
There are different structures between the two poems, which reveal the different views of the poets themselves. Duffys verse has a very irregular structure for a love poem, it does have some shape and she refers to the normal things associated with love poems, but she tries to show a different side to love by comparing it to something quite absurd. I think this shows that her thoughts on love are that no one should be judged and that love should be how each individual feels it should be.
Also the fact that she compares love to an onion shows that she looks at things not just on the surface, but more deeply and sees inner beauty where you would least expect it.
Brownings poem on the other hand is a structured poem, which would be typical of a Victorian woman. It shows a serious side to this woman and perhaps reflects the strict idealistic way of Victorian times. It is very thoughtful and deep and emotional which perhaps shows that this woman is a romantic in the true sense that she values the idealistic way that a relationship should be.
