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Three Valentines to the Wide World (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)

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“Three Valentines to the Wide World” is the first poem in Van Duyn's first book. In looking at the poem's three parts, the reader should remember that a valentine is a short love message, and Van Duyn has addressed these messages to the world, emphasizing in her title the world's vastness.

Part 1 is written in twelve-line stanzas, each stanza composed of three rhymed quatrains. That the rhyme is often slant rhyme (listening is rhymed with chastening, for example) does not diminish its effect.

The first stanza describes an eight-year-old child, awkward and graceless,...

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