‘How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. ’ is a poem written in the 19th century by a poet named Elizabeth Barret Brown. Assuming that this love sonnet was written from the poets point of view this poem is about how a lady loves her lover. The title suggests that this poet will list how she loves a certain person and in how many different ways and the poem does exactly that, Elizabeth also compares her love to things that it is not possible to live without. The language used in the title such as the word ‘thee’ instead of saying ‘you’ shows that modern day language will not be present.
Valentine’ is a poem written by Carol Ann Duffy and is also a love poem.This poem is very unique as normally when you think of the word ‘Valentine’ you imagine, roses, chocolates, cards and kisses whereas in this poem the persona tells a story in which she gives her lover an onion on Valentines Day. The comparison of an onion and her love is unusual but very legit as different aspects of an onion like the way a person cries when one is cut is very similar to how you can shed tears when you are in love. ‘How do I love thee?Let me count the ways’ is the title of the poem by Elizabeth and is also the first line of this passionate love sonnet.
Throughout this poem the author uses anaphora which is when an arrangement of words are repeated at the beginning of verses or lines in this case when ‘I love thee’ is repeated eight times. ‘I love thee to the depth and breadth and height’ by using repetition, this creates emphasis on the word ‘and’ it also gives the impression of a mini list, listing how deep her love is. When she refers to her ‘soul’ it shows her love is spiritual. My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight’, this line shows that she believes she is spiritually connected with her lover as when she can’t physically see him her soul sill manages to find him. ‘I love thee to the level of everyday’s’ shows that she doesn’t just love him she needs him, as much as one needs to breathe and she thinks that her love can fulfil his essential needs like quenching his thirst, being his air and so forth.
She also feels she needs him like the day needs ‘sun’, he is her light during a dark day.The words ‘I love thee’ for me personally create a passionate atmosphere. Although those sequence of words are simple they are very powerful. This poem was written in the late 19th century where slavery was common so when the poet says ‘I love thee freely, as men strive for right’, she refers to her love being as fierce as black men who fought for freedom. Later in the poem when the word ‘purely’ is used it shows that her love is genuine and she doesn’t intend on gaining anything other than love in return.Her love is also as pure as modest people ‘turn from praise’.
‘I love thee with a passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints, - These lines refer to Elizabeth’s ‘childhood’ and how a child is very innocent and has a lot of faith and hope in the world but when she began to lose her loved ones she also started to lose faith in people, in the world and in her religion but as she fell in love, the love of her life restored her faith. If god chose I shall but love thee better after death’. As her lover restored her faith she believes that god will reward them by keeping them together for eternity. This love sonnet follows a rhyme sequence of ABBA ABBA CD CD CD, each line in this poem contains 10 syllables. The love poem ‘Valentine’ is written in modern day language and in my opinion is less intense. The structure of this poem is very different to the love sonnet by Elizabeth, although both writers use anaphora.
This technique is used in ‘Valentine’ when ‘I give you an onion’ is repeated.This phrase creates an unusual, confused atmosphere, not an atmosphere you would necessarily expect in a love poem as the reader wonders why the persona’s lover is receiving an onion as a gift on Valentines Day. The first line of this poem ‘Not a red rose or a satin heart’ Creates the impression that something better is coming but when the next line reads ‘I give you an onion’ this confuses the reader but as the poet begins to describe how an onion can be used as a symbol of love by comparing it with ‘a moon wrapped up in brown paper’ this makes you see such an ordinary cooking ingredients in a different light.The words ‘wrapped up’ give the impression of a present.
‘It promises light’ when referring to ‘Light’ it gives the image of hope and happiness and is very romantic. The second stanza is very sombre as it shows that love isn’t always perfect, it always has its ups and downs. ‘It will blind you with tears like a lover. ’ This is a very clever comparison as when an onion is cut it causes tears, just as a lover causes tears when you are going through a rough patch in a relationship, or even tears of joy. ‘It will make your reflection a wobbling photo of grief’ These lines also talk about hard times in a relationship.The word ‘reflection’ shows that the poet is not necessarily just talking one’s physical appearance as she could be talking about emotions and memories when you ‘reflect on the past.
When you cry, tears cause you to see disoriented images so when one looks in the mirror you wouldn’t be able to see clearly. ‘I am trying to be truthful’ this phrase shows that the poet has thought carefully about what to give her lover on Valentines Day and has chosen something that represents her true emotions and hen she says ‘Not a cute card or a kissogram’ this shows that her present is real and thoughtful and not a cliche.The third verse is very heart felt as when the lines read ‘Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips, possessive and faithful’ The smell of an onion is strong, powerful, distinctive and when you taste its sharp flavour its something you never quite forget and when a ‘fierce kiss’ is delivered with love there is a sharp edge to it and it’s something that stays on your tongue, on your lips, silently, quietly. The word ‘possessive’ shows that the poet is saying that by excepting this gift she is gaining control of her lover.
When the poet says ‘faithful’ she is expecting her lover to be forever faithful.The poet begins the last stanza by stating ‘Take it’ This tempts her lover to take the onion but I think that by taking the onion her lover is entering a relationship for life and I think this onion represents something different to the poet than it does to her lover. ‘Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding-ring. This comparison has been well thought about as when you cut an onion it contains many layers like layers of love but as you keep cutting and peeling away the loops in the onion gradually get smaller until there’s a small loop left- a ‘wedding-ring’.
The poet is trying to say that if her lover is willing to stay in their relationship for a long time eventually wedding bells could be on the horizon but she is giving her partner a choice by saying ‘If you like’. The poet also uses the word ‘Lethal’ daring her lover to take a risk by falling in her lover. ‘Its scent will cling to your fingers, cling to your knife’ The reference to a ‘knife’ in a love poem is unusual but again creates a dangerous atmosphere, yet still a sense of love.Most of this poem is not passionate, although it is still a love poem it is more blunt and truthful and focuses on all aspects of a relationship including any problems unlike the poem ‘How do I love the? Let me count the ways’ in which the poem is affectionate and is about eternal love. Elizabeth refers to ‘God’ and her ‘Soul’ in her love sonnet and doesn’t mention any rough times in a relationship so her love is more divine and spiritual where as Carol does focus on tough times when she mentions ‘grief’. Parts of both poems show true love when it says ‘faithful’ in the poem ‘Valentine’ and ‘I love thee purely’ in the sonnet.
Both poems also mention forms of light as in ‘Valentines’ the poet says the onion that she gives her lover ‘promises light’ and in the love sonnet it mentions how she needs her lover like the day needs ‘sun’ and the night needs ‘candlelight’. The references to light give us an image of love and happiness and is very romantic, it also provides hope like the saying there is always light at the end of a tunnel like hope during a rocky patch in a relationship. The poem ‘Valentines’ is my favourite out of the two purely due to the fact that it is so unique and the comparisons used are very clever in my opinion.
