comparison: she walks in beauty to valentine

Question 1

how is the theme of love presented in these poems (3x key ideas)

Answer 1

1. Both unconventional love
2. Love (her beauty) is perfect vs imperfect nature of love
3. Love is romanticised vs raw

Question 2

Both unconventional love quotes for SWIB

Answer 2

• ‘she walks in beauty like the night’
• ‘cloudless climes and starry skies’
• ‘all that’s best of dark and bright’
• ‘gaudy day’

Question 3

both unconventional love analysis for these quotes:
- ‘she walks in beauty like the night’
- ‘cloudless climes and starry skies’
- ‘all that’s best of dark and bright’
- ‘gaudy day’

Answer 3

• ‘she walks in beauty like the night’
  Simile of night used to describe beauty- breaks from normal conventions of using light, where light is often associated with purity and clarity, here, darkness holds a quiet elegance, making her beauty seem mysterious and ethereal, present tense makes this feel eternal and untouched by time
• ‘cloudless climes and starry skies’
  Alliteration highlights the contrast between light and dark- unreachable, above earthly imperfections, suggests her beauty is distant and unobtainable- something admired but never possessed
• ‘all that’s best of dark and bright’
  Juxtaposition also suggests she is both extremes simultaneously, making her beauty superior to either alone, reinforcing her unattainability.
• ‘gaudy day’
  Meaning excessively bright, as if she is found in heaven rather than this world, challenges conventions of love and literature that she can be more beautiful than the sun- contrasting the brilliance of the day with her more delicate, balanced radiance-suggests she transcends earthly measures of beauty
• Was exiled to Italy for having an affair with his half sister, was flamboyant, radical and notorious which is reflected in his writing

Question 4

both unconventional love quotes for valentine

Answer 4

• ‘Valentine’ title
• ‘not a red rose or a satin heart’
• ‘i give you an onion’
• ‘wedding ring’ ‘if you like’

Question 5

both unconventional love analysis for these quotes:
- ‘Valentine’ title
- ‘not a red rose or a satin heart’
- ‘i give you an onion’
- ‘wedding ring’ ‘if you like’

Answer 5

• Title ‘Valentine’ establishes a theme of love, makes the reader expect it to be about the traditional expressions of love as is has connotations to valentines day, yet immediately it subverts reader’s expectations and is the antithesis:
• ‘not a red rose or a satin heart’
  Uses a repeated anaphoric line of ‘not a..’ First line critiques conventional love, ‘red rose’ and ‘satin heart’ are stereotypical symbols of love, suggests they lack meaning and are cliché, instead,
  ‘I give you an onion’- matter of fact tone absence of an adjective, suggests she’s not trying to create a façade of love- criticises the ‘perfect’ love advertised for valentines day (was asked to write an original poem for valentines day in 1993 by a radio station), extended metaphor- onions are atypical, multi-layered, natural- completely juxtaposes the artificial unidimensional images from before, as well as ‘cute card’, where the alliteration makes them feel overly sentimental, as if they were only created to become a gimmick and for commercialisation, so by rejecting these superficial tokens of love implies she is rejecting traditions- her love is more complex and meaningful.
  Her use of free verse and irregular stanza lengths reflects the unpredictability and individuality of love, further subverting traditional poetic forms, mimics natural speech- love is less confined by societal norms
• ‘wedding ring’ ‘if you like’ suggests optionality of social expectation of love, getting married
  Writes as part of a postmodern movement, characterised by the deconstruction of ideas

Question 6

Love (her beauty) is perfect vs imperfect nature of love quotes for SWIB

Answer 6

• ‘one shade the more, one ray the less’
• ‘so soft, so calm, yet eloquent’
• ‘thoughts serenely sweet express’

Question 7

Love (her beauty) is perfect vs imperfect nature of love analysis for these quotes:
- ‘one shade the more, one ray the less’
- ‘so soft, so calm, yet eloquent’
- ‘thoughts serenely sweet express’

Answer 7

• ‘one shade the more, one ray the less’
  Syntactic parallelism and antithesis- contrasts of light and dark enhanced by the lines balanced structure- she is perfect- one small change would affect this balance- delicate
• ‘so soft, so calm yet eloquent’
  Sibilance- soothing effect, repetition- in shock at her beauty as if needs to reaffirm to himself that she is real- extraordinary, ‘soft’ suggests delicacy and tenderness- ethereal- idealised beauty, meanwhile ‘calm’ implies tranquillity, peace and grace- suggests her beaty is not just physical but also reflects an inner harmony
  Was intended to be accompanied by music in his 1815 collection of ‘Hebrew Melodies’- transforms his admiration into something akin to worship, as if he is composing a hymn
• ‘thoughts serenely sweet express’
  Beauty is also shown in her mind- first reference to something that isn’t appearance- inner beauty

Question 8

Love (her beauty) is perfect vs imperfect nature of love quotes for valentine

Answer 8

• ‘it will blind you with tears like a lover
• ‘will make your reflection a wobbling photo of grief’
• ‘platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring’ ‘lethal’

Question 9

Love (her beauty) is perfect vs imperfect nature of love analysis for these quotes:
- ‘it will blind you with tears like a lover
- ‘will make your reflection a wobbling photo of grief’
- ‘platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring’ ‘lethal’

Answer 9

• ‘it will blind you with tears like a lover’
  Warning, love can make you weak and vulnerable, simile- love can often be a sad experience, almost suggests the persona is speaking from experience, ‘blind’ suggests that love is inhibiting and restrictive, ‘like a lover’ suggests that love is inherently painful, with ‘lover’ remaining ambiguous
• ‘will make your reflection a wobbling photo of grief’
  Emphasises point above, negative language- juxtaposes traditional valentine’s day messages and love poetry, almost a loss of personality as ‘reflection’ turns into personification of ‘grief’, feelings take on a tangible form through ‘photo’
• ‘platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring’ lethal’
  ‘platinum’- strong, ‘shrink’- restrictive, perhaps even almost suffocation due to the relationship (long term, marriage)- both negative connotations- trapped, ‘lethal’ is emphatic of this, alone on an end-stopped line, shows love can be dangerous, hurt and even kill, almost justifying why she uses the symbol of an ‘onion’ as it has many layers highlighting the complexity of love.

Question 10

Love is romanticised vs raw quotes for SWIB

Answer 10

• ‘Heaven’ ‘tender light’
• ‘nameless grace’
• ‘a mind at peace with all below’
• ‘a heart whose love is innocent!’

Question 11

Love is romanticised vs raw analysis for these quotes:
- ‘Heaven’ ‘tender light’
- ‘nameless grace’
- ‘a mind at peace with all below’
- ‘a heart whose love is innocent!’

Answer 11

• ‘Heaven’ ‘tender light’
  Religious imagery throughout- too perfect for this world
• ‘nameless grace’
  Adjective ‘nameless’ suggests too beautiful to be put into words- anonymous, mystery- no single word or label can capture the full depth and mystery of her elegance- elevates her to a level that resists logical analysis or reduction- becomes a symbol for the sublime, a key concept in Romantic poetry.
• ‘a mind at peace with all below’
  ‘mind’ and ‘heart’ are first stressed syllables in the lines- ends poem with a focus on her inner beauty
  Unobtainable, looking down on earth- Divine
• ‘a heart whose love is innocent!’
  First reference to love- ‘innocent’ because it is chaste, pure due to physical attraction or alternatively he is describing the proves of falling in love- appearance then inner beauty, exclamation mark celebrates this
• Romantic poets- wanted to describe beauty by engaging with emotions, longed for a more natural past

Question 12

Love is romanticised vs raw quotes for valentine

Answer 12

• ‘its fierce kiss will stay on your lips, possessive and faithful as we are for as ling as we are’
• ‘cling to your fingers, cling to your knife’

Question 13

Love is romanticised vs raw analysis for these quotes:
- ‘its fierce kiss will stay on your lips, possessive and faithful as we are for as ling as we are’
- ‘cling to your fingers, cling to your knife’

Answer 13

• ‘its fierce kiss will stay on your lips, possessive and faithful as we are for as long as we are’
  Powerful adjective ‘fierce’ connotes with aggression and domineering, when coupled with ‘kiss’ suggests passion but also danger- love has a lasting effect (for good or for bad), ominous tone, negative subversion of wedding vows, oxymoron of ‘possessive and faithful’, contrasting ideas of controlling, restrictive, loyal and supportive, suggests love appears in various forms
• Emphasised by repetition of ‘cling’, suggests inescapability- love can be possessive and suffocating. Creates a powerful, disturbing ambiguous final image, especially one of a ‘knife’- love has the power to wound physically and emotionally, also emphasises permanent effects of love- with ‘knife’ perhaps demonstrating the changed outlook on the world the person has after love, they don’t see normal objects in the same way, ‘cling’ also suggests a tone of desperation. Duffy is a former poet laureate and
  is known for her direct and unflinching exploration of themes like gender, relationships, and societal norms.