Discussing Valentine and I Wouldn't Thank You for a Valentine

Discussing Valentine and I Wouldn't Thank You for a Valentine

For this poetry assignment I will be discussing the poems “Valentine”

by Carol Ann Duffy and “ I Wouldn’t Thank You for a Valentine” by Liz

Lochhead. The poets have similar views about relationships but express

these views in contrasting ways. In order to analyse their contrasting

styles it would be beneficial to look at their backgrounds.

Carol Ann Duffy was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1955 but was brought

up in Stafford, England. She worked as a free-lance writer in East

London, and then she moved to Manchester where she currently teaches

creative writing at the Metropolitan University. Collections include

“Standing Female Nude” and “Selling Manhattan”.

Liz Lochhead was also born in Scotland in 1947. She is a well-known

Scottish poet, dramatist and performance artist. She began as a

lecturer in fine art, but became a full time writer in the 70’s.

Collections include “Memo for spring” and “The Grimm Sisters”. Both

these poets’ backgrounds and upbringings are represented as Liz

Lochhead uses Scottish dialectal words and phrases while Carol Duffy

does not. Lochhead uses words such as “auld” and “canny”. This is not

reflected in Carol Ann Duffy’s poem. This is possibly because she was

brought up in England so had forgotten the Scottish dialect.

The structure of “Valentine” by Carol Ann Duffy is not that of a

regular poem. It is written in free verse and there is no obvious

rhyme scheme or rhythm. The lines and stanzas are all completely

different and there seems to be no pattern. This gives the poem a more

personal touch and possibly shows that the poem was heartfelt and

these thoughts were written down as the poet thought them. The lines...

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...ould possibly offend a female reader

is she is disapproving these ideas- when another lady may love it. For

example if a man bought his girlfriend a diamond ring and proposed ,

Liz Lochhead is rejecting this idea “If you sent me a solitaire and

promises solemn………you’d entirely fail to charm me , in fact I’d detest

it”. This may put some people off this poem if they find these things

sentimental.

I find that I relate with Carol Ann Duffy’s “Valentine” better than “

I wouldn’t thank you for a Valentine” because it has deeper meaning

and seems to be more serious and has really came from the heart. Liz

Lochhead’s poem still shows true feeling but she doesn’t present it as

well as Carol Ann Duffy. Some people may look at “Valentine” and laugh

because the poet is comparing love to an onion but when you read the

comparisons they are very true and meaningful.