Wendy Cope

Wendy Cope Poems

At lunchtime I bought a huge orange—
The size of it made us all laugh.
I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—
They got quarters and I had a half.
...

I took her for my kind of person
And it was something of a shock
When my new friend revealed
...

There's not a Shakespeare sonnet
Or a Beethoven quartet
That's easier to like than you
Or harder to forget.
...

You have to try. You see the shrink.
You learn a lot. You read. You think.
You struggle to improve your looks.
...

On the flyleaf
of my confirmation present:
'To Wendy with love
from Nanna. Psalm 98.'
...

My heart has made its mind up
And I'm afraid it's you.
Whatever you've got lined up,
My heart has made its mind up
...

Yes, I agree. We'll pull ourselves together.
We eat too much. We're always getting pissed.
It's not a bad idea to find out whether
We like each other sober. Let's resist.
...

Today we are obliged to be romantic
And think of yet another valentine.
We know the rules and we are both pedantic:
...

On Waterloo Bridge, where we said our goodbyes,
The weather conditions bring tears to my eyes.
I wipe them away with a black woolly glove
And try not to notice I've fallen in love.
...

Wendy Cope Biography

Wendy Cope (born 21 July 1945) is a contemporary English poet. She read history at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She now lives in Ely with the poet Lachlan Mackinnon. Cope was born in Erith in Kent (now in London), and educated at Farrington's School, Chislehurst in Kent (now also in London). Following her graduation from St Hilda's College, Cope spent fifteen years as a primary-school teacher. In 1981, she became Arts and Reviews editor for the Inner London Education Authority magazine, Contact. Five years later she became a freelance writer and was a television critic for The Spectator magazine until 1990. Four collections of her adult poetry have been published, Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis in 1986, Serious Concerns in 1992, If I Don't Know in 2001, and Family Values in 2011. She has also edited several anthologies of comic verse and was a judge of the 2007 Man Booker Prize. In 1998, she was voted the listeners' choice in a BBC Radio 4 poll to succeed Ted Hughes as Poet Laureate. When Andrew Motion's term as Poet Laureate came to an end in 2009, Cope was again widely considered a popular candidate, although she believes the post should be discontinued. Carol Ann Duffy succeeded Motion as Poet Laureate. Cope was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours. In April 2011, the British Library purchased Cope's archive including manuscripts, school reports and 40,000 emails, the largest email archive they have bought to date. The papers also includes 67 poetry notebooks and unpublished poems. Cope commented "I wanted to find a good home for my archive. The timing was dictated because we had to move home, so we needed some money to buy a house, and the space. So this was the moment. I asked Andrew Motion what I should do, and he told me someone to approach at the British Library. I wasn't sure they would want it, but they did." When the collection is catalogued and organised, the archive will be available to researchers.)

The Best Poem Of Wendy Cope

The Orange

At lunchtime I bought a huge orange—
The size of it made us all laugh.
I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—
They got quarters and I had a half.

And that orange, it made me so happy,
As ordinary things often do
Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park.
This is peace and contentment. It's new.

The rest of the day was quite easy.
I did all the jobs on my list
And enjoyed them and had some time over.
I love you. I'm glad I exist.

Wendy Cope Comments

Rac Lee 06 November 2015

She's a marvelous poet, I wish more of her work was on here. I love the one with the orange.

9 13 Reply
Helen Miller-Shapiro 29 September 2018

I sent Valentine to my boyfriend he then asked me to marry him. I told him the poem as part of our wedding ceremony. Wendy Cope tells you how it is and laugh, laugh, and laugh again while reading her work. She has brightened my life. Thank you Wendy

8 3 Reply
Jakey Anderson 18 July 2018

My favourite here is Valentine, but Summer Villanelle from 'From May to December' is another favourite. I wish I had written them!

3 1 Reply
Mencio Vidal 26 April 2017

Wendy's one of a rare breed. Poet, capital P.

5 4 Reply
Mike Hunt 01 December 2016

I understand using simplistic language for effect, but this is utter garbage. It's just words put together with very weak rhyme. Glorification of trash at its finest!

7 13 Reply
Andrew Farrell 23 February 2022

Pretty true the poem Valentine sounds like she copied the Christmas song Last Christmas I gave You My Heart

0 0
Sasha 16 September 2021

poetry isn't supposed to rhyme.

0 0
Rac Lee 06 November 2015

I wish there were more of her poems on here. She's wonderful.

9 13 Reply

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