Valentine

Wendy CopeFiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1992

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Background

Authorial Context: Wendy Cope’s Modern and Contemporary British Poetry

Wendy Cope’s fans have campaigned for her appointment as Poet Laureate of England, but the post might be antithetical to her identity. Cope even claims she would like to see the post abolished. Even without her protest, her role as a deliberate renegade ill suits a public office. Cope carved her own poetic voice within contemporary British poetry while demonstrating her clear understanding of its parameters. Cope parodies many towering Modernist influences like Geoffrey Hill and Ted Hughes. Her translation of T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” into a series of limericks chips at the foundations of the establishment by burlesquing one of its most central works. Among poets of her own generation, Cope’s use of formal technique stands out as antiquated or precious, while her cutting honesty deflates the pretensions of experimental and academic writing.

While other contemporary poets tackle social and political issues related to class, race, and gender identity in free verse or experimental works, Cope smuggles her ideas in deceptively simple, often archaic poetic forms. Her poems use the music associated with children’s verse or greeting cards to lampoon academic stuffiness and obscurity. She addresses many of the same social issues examined in works given more critical weight, but her commentary comes in the form of humor or subtle personal observation. “Valentine” demonstrates Cope’s ambivalence toward academics or fashion, instead depicting one of the most common human experiences in ornate but completely clear and understandable form.

Literary Context: Light or Occasional Verse

Light Verse, Occasional Verse, Children’s Verse, Greeting-Card Poetry: In a 21st-century context, these terms all refer to poetry considered to be less intellectually challenging and culturally relevant. Works in these categories tend to follow traditional formal patterns with heavy rhyme and meter. They also present less controversial content, commemorating special events or celebrating basic emotions and situations. For much of her career, many critics identified Wendy Cope’s poems like “Valentine” as “light verse,” comic relief on the periphery of the literary world. For many 20th- and 21st-century British poets, light verse plays a separate role, compartmentalized from the rest of their work. T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, despite its popularity among readers, rarely enters a discussion of his major works, for instance. Ted Hughes’s poems for children share many themes with his more academic work, especially his poems focused on the animal world, but these poems are rarely considered together in a serious academic context. Cope does not differentiate in her work between audiences; her poems explore topics associated with “serious” or academic poetry using forms and techniques associated primarily with comic or light verse. While Cope’s legacy continues to expand, she remains true to the sense of humor and distaste for literary pretension seen in works like “Valentine.” Perfecting and reinventing forms, demonstrating linguistic agility through wordplay and complex sound patterns, Cope approaches the intellectual in poetry by elevating clarity and consolation over obfuscation and shock. For Cope, moving the reader means something quite different than it does for most poets of her generation. Readers appreciate poems like “Valentine” for the poetic craftsmanship, wit, and elegance.