Two poets who have similar views about relationships are Liz Lochhead and Carl Ann Duffy, however they express their views in contrasting ways. Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Valentine’ is a poignant personal poem written with heartfelt feeling but, never with sentimentality. She explores love and its complex nature, its pain as well as it’s bliss. She tries to move beyond clichés to find a more authentic way of expressing feelings and experience. Liz Lochhead on the other hand in her poem, ‘I wouldn’t thank you for a Valentine’, is satirising the idea of Valentine’s Day but still believes in love and her feelings are sincere. Both poets reject the conventional Valentine Day’s cards or gifts as they have long since ceased to be original. Carol Ann Duffy’s poem , on the surface is about the giving of an unusual present for Valentine’s Day, but really it is an exploration of love between two people. The central image, which is developed throughout the poem is an onion used as an extended metaphor for love. In effect Duffy lists the reasons why an onion is an appropriate symbol of love. The conventional romantic symbol of the moon is concealed in it. The moon is supposed to govern women’s passions. The brown skin is like a paper bag, and the shiny pale onion within it is the moon. The removing of the papery outer layers suggests the ‘undressing’ of those who prepare to make love. The onion is also like a lover as it makes one cry; the verb ‘blind’ may also suggest the traditional idea of love being blind. The flavour of the onion is persistent so that this taste is like a kiss which lasts, which introduces the idea of faithfulness in love. The onion is also a series of concentric rings each smaller than the other until one finds a ring , the size of a wedding ring. “If you like”, the lover is given a choice, thus the poem like a traditional Valentine contains a proposal of marriage. There is also a hint of a t