Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Valentine’ challenges conventional romance with an unexpected gift: an onion conveying honesty and genuine emotion.
‘Valentine’ by Carol Ann Duffy is funny to read at first sight. A lover is offering her beloved an onion! Is it a joke? Wait, there are layers of meanings just like an onion. This “onion” in the poem is a metaphor for the poet’s love in the poem. The poet uses the theme of “addled in love” to refer to its long-lasting nature. There is also a sensation of something different. That is not new, is the underlying reference in this 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
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98/100
In ‘Sonnet 43’, or ‘How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways’ the speaker is proclaiming her unending passion for her beloved.
This beautiful poem talks about the poet’s feelings when she thinks about her husband. According to the poem, she loves him like a day. Her love is free like the individual rights of men. Her love is not half-hearted. It’s full of passion that will sustain until her old age. There is an eternal quality of her love reflected in the last few lines of the poem.
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
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.
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96/100
‘Why Do I Love You, Sir’ by Emily Dickinson is about one person’s relationship with God. The speaker explores why she loves God through clear and memorable language.
‘Why Do I love You Sir’ by Emily Dickinson is a poem telling the reasons why the poet loves that “sir” so much. She needs not to answer the question as it is a feeling of something sublime. A person in love cannot actually tell about her thoughts behind such a “foolish” decision. Love makes us “fools” as well as gives us the heavenly sensation of a lifetime! That’s why the poet says, her love “cannot speak”.
“Why do I love” You, Sir?
Because—
The Wind does not require the Grass
To answer—Wherefore when He pass
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95/100
Shakespeare’s ‘Sonnet 18’ praises timeless beauty, rooted in virtues that endure beyond the fleeting beauty of the youth.
‘Shall I compare to a summer’s day?’ by William Shakespeare presents a heavenly quality of his love to that person. In his sonnet, there is a tone of missing someone. The friend of the poet might not be there in the world while he was penning down her thoughts about him. The last two lines of the poem reflect the intention of the poet behind writing this poem.
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
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93/100
‘Love’s Language’ by Ella Wheeler Wilcox describes how Love speaks through the emotions, actions and inactions of soon to be, or already established, lovers
This poem will help you think about the concept of love as a whole. While writing a card or a wish, often a person gropes for thoughts to write about love in general. This poem will definitely help one, for sure! The poet expresses how the feeling of love gets actually expressed. There’s not any direct outlet of love. It has different manifestations inside the body of a person. According to the poet, she expresses her love in the following way.
How does Love speak?
In the faint flush upon the tell-tale cheek,
And in the pallor that succeeds it; by
The quivering lid of an averted eye—
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89/100
‘If thou must love me…’ (Sonnet 14) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning declares the speaker’s intentions for how she is to be loved.
Elizabeth Barret Browning wrote so many poems for her beloved husband. Every poem is unique in its diction, lively imagery, beautiful metaphors, and thought-provoking symbols. Likewise, ‘If thou must love me…’ by Elizabeth Barret Browning presents some eternal lines to the readers. It also defines her world of love. The last four lines of the poem can reflect her innovative and touching feelings on love’s theme.
If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love's sake only. Do not say,
"I love her for her smile—her look—her way
Of speaking gently,—for a trick of thought
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86/100
‘You’re’ by Sylvia Plath is an ode to an unborn child. It explores the speaker’s expectations of motherhood and what emotions she’s going to feel.
This is a modern poem. That’s why the metaphors and symbols are also modern in sense. But, the main thing about love is the same. The poet feels just like Elizabeth Browning and Emily Dickinson while writing this poem. It is written for her beloved Ted Hughes.
Clownlike, happiest on your hands,
Feet to the stars, and moon-skulled,
Gilled like a fish. A common-sense
Thumbs-down on the dodo's mode.
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85/100
‘Heart, we will forget him!’ by Emily Dickinson is a keen observation of the aftermath of a powerful love affair and how it will, or will not, be “forgotten.”
The beloved in this case has marooned the poet. The lovelorn poet talks about him in the poem. The poem tells readers about the poet’s emotions and longing for him who has done wrong with her love. She is true and wants to remain until the end. But, she has to move on that’s why the poem begins like this,
Heart, we will forget him!
You an I, tonight!
You may forget the warmth he gave,
I will forget the light.
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85/100
‘In Paths Untrodden’ champions the necessity of companions, defining it as an affectionate and possibly romantic bond between men that defies societal standards.
One of the more potent emotions expressed in Whitman's poem is love for other men. Again, this love can be interpreted as both platonic and romantic. Everything from his use of imagery and figurative language serves to highlight the vigor and necessity of this feeling. Which they perceive as an essential way to bond men to one another.
In paths untrodden,
In the growth by margins of pond-waters,
Escaped from the life that exhibits itself,
From all the standards hitherto publish'd—from the
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84/100
‘To My Brothers’ by John Keats encapsulates familial love, intellectual camaraderie, and the fleeting beauty of shared moments in life.
The poem elicits love for the speaker's brothers through heartfelt expressions of affection and admiration. By portraying the deep bond and shared experiences between siblings, the poem evokes a sense of warmth and tenderness towards the individuals being addressed. The speaker's genuine love and appreciation inspire readers to feel a similar affection and fondness for their own loved ones.
Small, busy flames play through the fresh-laid coals,
And their faint cracklings o'er our silence creep
Like whispers of the household gods that keep
A gentle empire o'er fraternal souls.
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83/100
‘I Love You’ by Ella Wheeler Wilcox describes the passionate, warm, and youthful love that exists between a speaker and her intended listener.
In this poem, the poet is passionate about the heart, body, and mind of her beloved. She needs her physical touch to rejuvenate her soul. The poet does not seek “the cold, calm kiss” of her lover. What she needs from him, is expressed in the following lines of the poem.
I love your lips when they’re wet with wine
And red with a wild desire;
I love your eyes when the lovelight lies
Lit with a passionate fire.
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82/100
Sonnet 73, ‘That time of year thou mayst in me behold’, explores love’s resilience in the face of human transience.
The speaker's lover exhibits unwavering love and compassion for him as even in the face of death, her love stands firmer and provides comfort to the aging speaker. Her love becomes stronger for the speaker as she knows they'll have to part ways soon. Such a profound display of love can move the readers, stirring heartfelt emotional responses.
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
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81/100
‘Refusal’ by Maya Angelou is a powerful love poem that speaks of one person’s dedication to another, as they find each other in every life.
Love for him is the central emotion at work in this poem. The speaker spends every line of this poem expressing the intensity of the love she feels for this person and how she believes she'll be with them in all future lives.
Beloved,
In what other lives or lands
Have I known your lips
Your Hands
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80/100
‘To My Dear and Loving Husband’ by Anne Bradstreet is like a breath of fresh air. Her deep and genuine love for her husband is clear and evident in this poem.
The entire poem is about how much the poet loves her husband. She expresses how deeply connected they are and how lucky she feels to have him. She values his love more than gold and believes that nothing in the world can compare to it. Her love for him is not temporary but something that she believes will last forever, even beyond this life, making it incredibly strong and unshakable.
If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee.
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
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78/100
‘An Ancient Gesture’ explores timeless sorrow through parallels between modern tears and those of mythic figures Penelope and Ulysses.
Love for him is delved into through Penelope's unwavering devotion and longing for Ulysses' return. Her tears and weary efforts reflect the depth of her emotional attachment, inspiring a sense of affection and devotion for their enduring bond.
I thought, as I wiped my eyes on the corner of my apron:
Penelope did this too.
And more than once: you can't keep weaving all day
And undoing it all through the night;
