Valentine

Wendy Cope

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1992

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

Heart

A valentine almost always has a heart. Cope’s “Valentine” works as both an earnest love poem and a satire of love poetry. As one of the only visuals in a poem made up of conversational expressions, the heart figure dominates from the title to the penultimate line. The “heart” in the first, fourth, and seventh repeated line represents a traditional valentine heart, echoing the title, symbolizing romantic love. But “heart” also represents the essence of the speaker, the speaker’s true nature. The heart, according to the speaker, has a mind of its own, one that is “made up” (Lines 1, 4, and 7). The speaker then externalizes this image, as if her own heart is both part of her and something else, moving on its own beyond her control. In a poem called “Valentine,” the heart becomes a powerful visual and emotional vessel, controlling the action of the poem and serving as the physical incarnation of the title.

Mind

Cope uses the expression “made its mind up” referring to her heart in the first line of the poem, repeated as Lines 4 and 7. Since a heart can’t have a literal mind, the deliberate mixed metaphor creates an impression of the speaker. The “mind” here in this anchoring line of the poem represents logic and reflection, rational thought. By locating the mind within the speaker’s heart, Cope informs the reader that reason has left the poem from the beginning and actions are now governed by emotion only. The term “mind” contrasts with a valentine heart in a material way as well; while a heart shape may be one of the most recognizable Western cultural symbols, no common image exists for “mind.”

Lines, Lists, and Signs

The terms “lined up” and “signed up” (Lines 3 and 5), like “mind” (Lines 1, 4, and 7), represent order and reason. An event “lined up” (Line 3) ahead of time indicates deliberation and planning, while “signed up” (Line 5) signifies voluntary enrollment. Both purposeful acts become secondary in the poem to the “heart” which has “made its mind up” (Lines 1, 4, and 7), demonstrating in “Valentine” a lover out of control, completely in the thrall of passion, with all other ordering principles relegated to the mundane and irrelevant. It might have to be “next year” (Line 6), but passion will win the beloved and defeat bureaucratic tools of order. Any poem using lines and listing also refers to the poem itself and its composition, formed as it is from lines and often resembling a list. The speaker worries that the beloved might not be “signed up” (Line 5), but the poem itself already has turned the beloved into a “sign” or symbol, signing him or her up in a different context. Looking back at the title, the reader remembers this poem identifies itself as a valentine: a card or letter signed by the sender. The speaker constitutes one kind of sender, but the poet signs her work as well.