Wendy Cope, OBE (born 21 July 1945) is a contemporary English poet. She read history at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She now lives in Ely, Cambridgeshire. 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.
Influences?
“I suppose, obviously, Shakespeare. George Herbert in his use of form. But other poets who have inspired me are Emily Dickinson and John Clare. He just describes what’s there and does not try to do anything else with it. When I was sixteen, I liked Keats. And I still like him. But I prefer John Clare now, he is plainer.”
John Clare by Wendy Cope
John Clare, I cried last night
For you - your grass-green coat,
Your oddness, others’ spite,
Your fame, enjoyed and lost,
Your gift, and what it cost.
Awake in the early hours,
I heard you with my eyes,
Carolling woods and showers.
As if a songbird’s throat
Could utter words, you wrote.
I listened late and long -
Each clear, true, loving note
Placed justly in its song.
Sometimes for sheer delight,
John Clare, I cried last night.
Attached below is a link to a BBC R4 programme “Great Lives” from 2015, in which Wendy is interviewed by Matthew Parris. Her subject? John Clare of course.
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