18 pages • 36 minutes read
Wendy CopeValentine
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1992A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“Another Valentine” by Wendy Cope (2011)
This valentine uses the same form, the triolet, to a very different effect. Instead of an unrequited passion, this speaker presents a steady, established relationship. Following rules emerges as a central theme in this work; the speaker claims to write this valentine because “we are obliged” (Line 1) on this holiday to “be romantic” (Line 1). While the poem otherwise reads as straightforward and sincere, Cope undermines her speaker’s attempt to follow rules by breaking the form and altering the triolet’s first line both times it is repeated, in Lines 4 and 7. Again, Cope maximizes the potential uses of form by making a wry joke: even as the speaker professes an unsurprising “old and sure” love (Line 5), unexpected novelty arrives as the predictable form’s repetition instead becomes new and fresh.
“Nine-Line Triolet” by Wendy Cope (1992)
Cope opens up the triolet form by adding a line—a line about cursing the rules. Polysyllabic rhymes and rollicking anapests give this poem the cadence of a drinking song, but the heartbreak in the final goodbye shows the underlying sincerity in the speaker’s sense of loss.
“Triolets in the Argolid” by Rachel Hadas (2005)
This series of triolets explores themes related to the form itself: singularity and repetition, duality, transformation, ritual, and time. The first, “Turn,” rhymes the opposing “never” and “ever” while contradicting its own premise that a taste “will never / be quite so fresh again” (Lines 5-6), even as the repeating lines ensure “The taste is strong as ever” (Lines 1, 4, 7).
“Birds at Winter Nightfall” by Thomas Hardy (1901)
Hardy uses enjambment and punctuation breaks to extract additional meaning from repeated lines in this triolet. Line 1’s “the flakes fly faster” must repeat, according to the form, in Line 4, but Hardy reveals the form’s flexibility by manipulating the punctuation. He ends the sentence as “The flakes fly!” (Line 4). A new sentence begins with “faster” at the end of Line 4, continuing into Line 5: “faster / shutting indoors that crumb-outcaster.” The inevitable change of season and its cycles fit as a theme in a poem constructed from regular repetition.
“The Queen Ponders Her Laureate Choice” by A. M. Juster (2018)
In 2018, poet and critic A. M. Juster offered suggestions in couplets for the Poet Laureate post at Carol Ann Duffy’s retirement. His first choice is Wendy Cope, though he knows she will decline, and he “cannot inflict it on her” (Line 4).
Further Literary Resources
“We Like Being Married But We Should Have Had a Choice” by Wendy Cope (2014)
This article from 2014 in The Guardian describes Wendy Cope and Lachlan McKinnon’s process of deciding to marry after their 19 year partnership. Cope writes in order to express solidarity with couples who want to join together legally without the trappings of a traditional marriage ceremony. The bother of a wedding and the wording of the vows all combine for an unappealing proposition, though being married officially ends up a pleasant conclusion for the couple.
“‘Anecdotal Evidence” in the Case of Wendy Cope” by A. M. Juster (2018)
As Juster reviews Cope’s Anecdotal Evidence for the LA Review of Books in 2018, he takes time to explain Cope’s career and celebrity in The UK to American readers. The article chronicles her rise to popularity while academic critics underestimated her skill. Juster, however, looks closely at her “light” verse, arguing that its technical skill has been overlooked as Cope’s poems earn praise almost exclusively for their humor.
“Wendy Cope: ‘I Can’t Die Until I’ve Sorted Out the Filing Cabinets’” by Helen Lewis (2011)
This 2011 article in The New Statesman discusses the significance of the British Library’s decision to acquire Cope’s archive. An overview of her career looks into her poetic practice, from her common themes to her physical workspace. The question of Cope’s legacy as a serious poet looms throughout, as the author places Cope among the accepted greats of Modern and Contemporary British writing.
An Interview with Wendy Cope by The Poetry Archive
This somewhat interactive site offers a transcript of Cope’s responses to questions ranging from the importance of poetry in general to specific questions about Cope’s personal writing process. One particularly useful query asks about the relationship between speaking voice and written voice, an apt question for a poet who relies on conversational expressions, as in “Valentine.” Cope explains that her speakers inhabit a “slightly world weary” tone. The site offers short films of each response, allowing readers to hear Cope’s voice. Listening to Cope’s speaking voice provides an immediate sense of the “world weary” tone of Cope’s poetic voice.
“Feeling Guilty” by A. E. Stallings (2007)
Stallings, another advocate and master of formal verse, discusses topics most poets avoid addressing directly: making a living and copyright issues. Stallings confesses to making a Wendy Cope reference without asking her permission, then goes on to raise questions about fair use. The article begins with what Stallings calls her “poor-Wendy-Cope-imitation triolet,” one that mostly follows the form, though the first line is repeated only once.
Listen to Poem
Part of the Poetry in the Wild series, American actor Armie Hammer delivers a conversational performance of “Valentine” in New York City’s Central Park in 2020. Even aside from Hammer’s tabloid narrative, this rendition of Cope’s charming poem elicits every latent chilling connotation. His version calls into being the most sinister incarnation of this unreliable narrator, this speaker who may be confessing a tenuous understanding of power and consent.
While Cope reads a different poem (“Spared”), this recording demonstrates Cope’s reading voice and a different tone altogether from “Valentine.”
