Discussing Valentine and I Wouldnt Thank You for a Valentine Essay

Discussing Valentine and I Wouldnt Thank You for a ValentineFor this poetry assignment I will be discussing the poems Valentineby chirrup Ann Duffy and I Wouldnt Thank You for a Valentine by LizLochhead. The poets have similar views about relationships but expressthese views in contrasting ways. In order to analyse their contrastingstyles it would be beneficial to look at their backgrounds.Carol Ann Duffy was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1955 but was broughtup in Stafford, England. She worked as a free-lance writer in EastLondon, and then she moved to Manchester where she currently teachescreative writing at the Metropolitan University. Collections allow inStanding Female Nude and Selling Manhattan.Liz Lochhead was also born in Scotland in 1947. She is a well-knownScottish poet, dramatist and performance artist. She began as alecturer in fine art, but became a full time writer in the 70s.Collections include Memo for spring and The Grimm Sisters. Boththese poets backgrounds and upb ringings be represented as LizLochhead uses Scottish dialectal words and phrases while Carol Duffydoes not. Lochhead uses words such as auld and canny. This is notreflected in Carol Ann Duffys poem. This is possibly because she wasbrought up in England so had forgotten the Scottish dialect.The structure of Valentine by Carol Ann Duffy is not that of aregular poem. It is written in free verse and there is no obviousrhyme scheme or rhythm. The lines and stanzas argon all completelydifferent and there seems to be no pattern. This gives the poem a morepersonal touch and possibly shows that the poem was heartfelt andthese thoughts were written down as the poet thought them. The lines... ...ould possibly offend a female readeris she is disapproving these sentiments- when another lady may love it. Forexample if a man bought his girlfriend a diamond ring and proposed ,Liz Lochhead is rejecting this idea If you sent me a solitaire andpromises solemnyoud entirely fail to charm me , in fact Id detestit. This may gravel some people off this poem if they find these thingssentimental.I find that I relate with Carol Ann Duffys Valentine better than I wouldnt give thanks you for a Valentine because it has deeper meaningand seems to be more serious and has really came from the heart. LizLochheads poem still shows true feeling but she doesnt present it aswell as Carol Ann Duffy. Some people may look at Valentine and laughbecause the poet is comparing love to an onion but when you read thecomparisons they are very true and meaningful.