Valentine

Wendy Cope

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1992

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

Wendy Cope stands as one of the foremost contemporary practitioners of poetic forms. Her triolets expand and reinvent the eight-line traditional structure. Like rondeaus and rondels, this songlike, short poetic form derives shape from strict rhyme and the repetition of certain lines. “Valentine” follows the rhyme and line repetition pattern required of triolets: ABaAabAB, but she shortens the typical tetrameter (four metrical feet) to trimeter (three metrical feet). The trimeter lines have an economy and speed, as well as heightening the comic effect of the feminine A rhymes. For reference, feminine rhyme takes place when stressed syllables (the “A”s above) precede unstressed syllables. Each “A” line also ends with an amphibrachic foot (“bAB,” which has a stressed syllable between unstressed syllables) as a result of the feminine rhyme; use of the amphibrach in triolets dates back to the form’s French origins. The form saw its greatest popularity in English in the 19th century, though its deceptive appearance of simplicity and potential for wit has brought it back into vogue in the 21st century.

Enjambment

The one instance of enjambment in “Valentine” provides for special emphasis and focus. Common in free verse, enjambment occurs when a poetic line stops without punctuation and continues directly with minimal pause into the following line. Traditional rhymed verse tends to have more end-stopped lines, punctuated with a comma or period at the end, giving emphasis to the rhyme structure. Cope end-stops each line in “Valentine” except Line 5, the beginning of an “if” statement, leaving the consequences suspended until the next line. This single case of enjambment allows the reader to wonder briefly what kind of response might come from the speaker if her expressed passion might be thwarted.

Rhyme

Lines 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7 of “Valentine” end on an amphibrachic foot and a perfect feminine rhyme: “mind up/lined up/signed up.” Each rhyme contains part of a colloquial or conversational expression, figures of speech common in a casual, intimate conversation. This effect harks to Cole Porter’s lyrics more than it does to any traditional love poetry, especially given the use of slang. Also common in Dr. Seuss tales and in limericks, the rollicking effect of accumulated feminine rhyme often conveys a comic tone, especially when paired with perfect single syllable rhyme. Consider Porter’s cumulative effect rhyming humans/Vincent Youmans, Gandhi/ brandy, and gallery/salary in “You’re the Top”; the longer and more complex the rhymes, the greater the humor. Cope also uses internal rhyme and repetition, especially in the repeated unrhymed pair of lines “My heart has made its mind up / And I’m afraid it’s you” (Lines 1, 2, 7, 8). This pair appears as the opening and closing of the poem, and though they lack end rhyme, they have a perfect rhyme between the second iambic feet in each: “made/afraid.”