Poetry Anthology - Valentine Flashcards
(12 cards)
Key themes
Love
Pain
Structure
Free verse + irregular structure - unconventional + breaks traditional ideas of love
Tone shifts (affectionate —> unsettling —> dark)
Enjambment - long lasting impression
Key quotes (8)
‘Not a red rose or a satin heart’
‘I give you an onion’
‘Here’s
‘A wobbling photo of grief’
‘Stay on your lips’
‘Lethal’
‘Cling’
‘Cling to your knife’
Analyse ‘not a red rose or a satin heart’
Subversion of romantic cliches
Analyse ‘I give you an onion’
Extended metaphor
‘Onion’ suggests love has many layers and love is raw
Analyse ‘here’
Harsh
Shift of tone - speaker deals with the realities of relationships
Analyse ‘a wobbling photo of grief’
Metaphor
Explores the emotional impact of love
Suggests they are crying
Reinforces the idea that love is pure and realistic, not idolises
Pain
Analyse ‘stay on your lips’
Literal
Onions taste/sting remains
Suggests love can leave a long lasting impression/pain
Analyse ‘lethal’
Tone shifts again
Dark imagery
Suggests love can be permanently damaging
Analyse repetition of ‘cling’
Suggests that love can still last even when it is over
Eternal
Analyse ‘cling to your knife’
Powerful metaphor
Highlights the danger and pain that love can bring
Idea that love isn’t always sweet, but can be obsessive, painful and damaging
Context
Feminist - breaks poetic convention
Lesbian - subversion of romantic cliches
