The poem
Not a red rose or a satin heart.
I give you an onion. It is a moon wrapped in brown paper. It promises light like the careful undressing of love.
Here. It will blind you with tears like a lover. It will make your reflection a wobbling photo of grief.
I am trying to be truthful.
Not a cute card or a kissogram.
I give you an onion. Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips, possessive and faithful as we are, for as long as we are.
Take it. Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding-ring, if you like.
Lethal. Its scent will cling to your fingers, cling to your knife.
This was the most idiotic poem I have ever read. Consider revising, please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you're stupid enough to think this poem is 'idiotic' then you shouldn't be reading literature. There are so many meanings to this poem it's amazing. We studied it in class and I love it. It's so unusual and original. It's Duffy's best poem.
This is a great, realistic view of love - love being like an onion, hard to lose the odour, when under the skin - is an analagy I can relate to!
hmm.. the persona seems as though she is trying to warn her lover on sth..
i did this poem in class before and personally, i love it.. it gives you the hard side of love.. nicely done by duffy, i say..
I really like this poem, I first heard it on an RMPS class worksheet "what is love" I think this poem portrays perfectly the meaning of love. Today I was recommended by an english teacher to try out some of Duffys works,so it was a pleasant surprise to discover this.
I personally think that the onion has alot of layers and duffy has related this well to the subject of love. Ogars have laaayers. No donkey onions have laayers. i think the onion wants to kill the woman in the relationship.
oh lord!!! the many layerd onion ah!!!!
Its a leedle bit umm wierd, n shes a leedle bit ugly..but hey we cant all be like me =D
The first time I had read this poem was a few years ago in class and at the time I had not actually realised it was written by Carol Ann Duffy, until now. I like this poem, mainly because it is so blunt and also surprising. It perhaps gives a more accurate insight into 'love' as the theme of the onion suggests that maybe love is not as appealing as some may think it to be.
The first time I read this poem was in English class and our assignment was to analyze it...yuck. But, the assignment wasn't that bad because this poem was so awesome. I love the originality of the St. Valentine's present: the onion.
heya literature fans!!
i am studying this poem for my a-levels atm and i find Duffy so interesting because almost everything she writes is ambiguous and the majority of the time her works are full of sexual connotations. for example, the scent could be a womans sexual scent remaining on her lovers fingers and staying on her lovers penis (the knife being a phallic symbol for the male genitalia). i love this poem because as unromantic as it is, it put a new light on love and that it is not all flowers and kisses it is hard work and often a painful thing to experience. well, thats all for now, keep reading folks! hehe!
I'm a student doing my speech and darma exams for grade 6 and am having to recite Carol Ann Duffys poem Standing Female Nude bt heart. I also have to look up other poems by this amazing authour... I have enjoyed this process a lot and love her work especially Valentine. This poem is so true and the use of the onion is... lets just say I'm lost for words... It definitly has to be one of the best poems she has written!!!
I studied this poem in English for my exam
It's a very surprising poem.The metaphores of the onion are good found.When I spoke of this poem for my english exam I had 18/20.It's was a really good poem.
this poem is very nice it is true what she is saying love hurts sometimes .
i am doing an exam on this poem and i think it is shown as a past love where Carol Ann Duffy has been hurt by love and wants to pass on her wisdom so no one else gets hurt.
im at the end of yr9 now n in my english class we have just read this poem and i thought as a poem its really strong and has a meaning when my class first read we didnt understand y you chose an onion bt once we read it again we understood it better you have produced a great poem and everybody should read it thank you for such a lovely poem by melissa xx
it's ok I guess. I read it, read the comments, then read it again. It's ok, but I might have liked to have had more connection between the gifts and the lovers, e.g, why no red hearts and satin ribbons??? because they fade and crack. How is the onion and moon connected? maybe by more than just silence but by the orbit one leads around a lover. And I might have liked to have gotten more depth with the knife, how it cuts, pierces, etc.????
The analogy of the onion as a true token of love is beautifully original, but is handled so simply that it makes you wonder why nobody has thought of it before. This to my mind is the definition of genius'
The whole idea of the knife being a phallic symbol is a good one...but I think this poem was actually written to a woman.
In my opinion, this poem actually tells the truth of love which consists both bitterness and sweetness on one hand. On the other hand, it is, how to say, really terrifies me.
ja
i would say that this poem is very good written