A poet not taking her serious moments seriously enough...I am an admirer of Wendy Cope's delightfully witty and deceptively easy style, but this rather more serious collection disappointed me. There's too much variety of tone, and frequently a mismatch between that tone and the content, as though Cope is unable to take her serious moments seriously enough. The poems are largely unmemorable. Even 'The Teacher's Tale', the longer poem that makes up part II - essentially the ballad of a promising but mother-dominated schoolboy - fails to reach the heights, and is spoilt by its mawkish final blessing for the lad's future. Not one of the author's finest collections.
typical copethis latest collection is typical of cope's work. a pretty good use of humor, rhymes that sometimes are singsongy, and a whole host of villanelles. the real surprise is the long poem that concludes the volume, 'the teacher's tale'. written in couplets, it is a semi-serious poem that is well-done. some of the rhymes are predictable, but overall, it's a pretty good poem.
Great example of how poetry should be writtenNot reading much of Cope's work prior to this, I feared most if not all her writing to be heavily feministic. Quite the contrary. Whereas some pieces do instill feminist approaches, this is not without relevance or reason. I can say confidentally, "If I Don't Know" is a modern classic collection of inspired writings, throwing up the whole range of emotions that poets should. All the poems and verses found here are superbly crafted and mastered (even "Fireworks Poems" on page 10!) but the true gems are "The Christmas Life", "Being Boring", "Sonnet of 68", "Traditional Prize County Pigs", "An Ending", and the title poem. A point of call is "A Teacher's Tale" which is Cope's finale for this collection. It would be interesting to find out whether Cope decided on the content order of this collection with "A Teacher's Tale" acting almost as an appendix, or whether the decision was made by the publisher. Either way, both have got it right, and Cope's "If I Don't Know" is a great example of how poetry should be written, balanced and produced. It is a rare lesson in style, composition and stanzas that leave the reader both gasping and in total thought. Like her male counterpart genius, Roger McGough, Wendy Cope can claim to be the best and most popular of poets today and rightly so. Ironically both Poets appeared together earlier in 2001 as guests on the BBC Radio 4's "Fine Lines." Fortuitious timing perhaps?
Down to earth poetryI think what often puts one off reading poetry is the sense that it is too grand - too concerned with the fundamentals of the universe to be of much relevance to the ordinary everyday person. Wendy Cope however has always managed to relate the two in a very simple and effective way. Her humour is always refreshing and never misplaced. She may never be regarded by the establishment in the same way as the Hughes', Wordworths' and Byrons' of this world are, but I will always see her as being one of the best poets I have personally ever encountered.
From troubles of the world I turn to Wendy Cope!Unless you are very highbrow, this accessible collection of poems is waiting to entertain you. It is a mixture of discipline - villanelle, haiku, ballad - and free verse. Such is the poet's ability to diversify in subject and form retaining the humour.
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