I have a homework assignment to write an essay on Wendy Cope's "Lonely Hearts" which I need to dicuss her words and imagery in an argumentative essay. I need to use two outside sources and am looking for some insight.

Can anyone help?

Many Thanks,
Rae

Will you post the poem please?

Stephen

Lonely Hearts
Wendy Cope




Can someone make my simple wish come true?
Male biker seeks female for touring fun.
Do you live in North London? Is it you?

Gay vegetarian whose friends are few,
I'm into music, Shakespeare and the sun.
Can someone make my simple wish come true?

Executive in search of something new -
Perhaps bisexual woman, arty, young.
Do you live in North London? Is it you?

Successful, straight and solvent? I an too -
Attractive Jewish lady with a son.
Can someone make my simple wish come true?

I'm Libran, inexperienced and blue -
Need slim non-smoker, under twenty-one.
Do you live in North London? Is it you?

Please write (with photo) to Box 152
Who knows where it may lead once we've begun?
Can someone make my simple wish come true?
Do you live in North London? Is it you?

Its a very effective poem, particularly clever in that Cope doesn't set the scene except by the title, but you know by implication that there's this woman, searching for her soulmate among the small ads. She will consider anyone provided they live in North London - she's fairly desperate and in need of a change of direction, but not enough to throw up her job/home and go adventuring. She's looking for someone with a little bit in common with her (successful, straight and solvent ? I am, too) but different enough to bring some change into her life (perhaps the type she usually goes for has proved a disappointment once to often, or she's tried all sorts and had no more luck with one than another ) and both her desperation and the rut she's stuck in are shown by the repetition of the two lines 'Can someone make my simple wish come true' and 'Do you live in North London? Is it you?' . This is reinforced by Cope always using one of those two lines for the rhyme, while half the lines from the adverts are free of rhyme constraints. I get the strong impression that she's in a cage and wants someone else to come in and redesign it for her, rather than to rescue her. Tremendous poem, thanks for posting it.

And you might like to think about the fact that this is one of Wendy's delicious villanelles, like her Summer Villanelle:

[www.emule.com] />

Stephen

I'm so glad you posted that, Stephen - I thought it might be a villanelle, but I'm no good at analysis of forms, and I wasn't sure (and was too lazy to look it up) so didn't mention it.

There's an interview on the Web, where Cope discusses her poetry- [www.observer.co.uk] />
pam

Wendy is great - should have been Britain's current laureate. Continuing off topic:

[www.arlindo-correia.com] />

Reading Scheme

Here is Peter. Here is Jane. They like fun.
Jane has a big doll. Peter has a ball.
Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!

Here is Mummy. She has baked a bun.
Here is the milkman. He has come to call.
Here is Peter.Here is Jane. They like fun

Go Peter! Go Jane! Come, milkman, come!
The milkman likes Mummy. She likes them all
Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!

Here are the curtains. They shut out the sun.
Let us peep! On tiptoe Jane! You are small!
Here is Peter. Here is Jane. They like fun.

I hear a car, Jane. The milkman looks glum.
Here is Daddy in his car. Daddy is tall.
Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!

Daddy looks very cross. has he a gun?
Up milkman! Up milkman! Over the wall!
Here is Jane. They like fun.
Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!

IM having some difficulty in understanding this poem. I am trying to graspe the Imagery, form, rhyming, rhythme ect. If you have any iformation on this please let me know. I could really use the help.
Thanks

Nick,

There's lots of information in the other posts. Try setting your profile to 'flat view.'

pam

I have a paper to do on "Reading Scheme" and I need some views about what the poem is talking about

1. It is a villanelle - look it up.
   
   1. It is a parody of a nursery rhyme.
      
   2. It is about marital infidelity.
      
      
      Here is Peter. Here is Jane. They like fun.
      Jane has a big doll. Peter has a ball.
      Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!
      
      Here is Mummy. She has baked a bun.
      Here is the milkman. He has come to call.
      Here is Peter.Here is Jane. They like fun
      
      Go Peter! Go Jane! Come, milkman, come!
      The milkman likes Mummy. She likes them all
      Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!
      
      Here are the curtains. They shut out the sun.
      Let us peep! On tiptoe Jane! You are small!
      Here is Peter. Here is Jane. They like fun.
      
      I hear a car, Jane. The milkman looks glum.
      Here is Daddy in his car. Daddy is tall.
      Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!
      
      Daddy looks very cross. has he a gun?
      Up milkman! Up milkman! Over the wall!
      Here is Jane. They like fun.
      Look, Jane, look! Look at the dog! See him run!

The poem is a parody of the Ladybird Keywords Reading Scheme, otherwise know as "Peter and Jane". They used a restricted vocabulary of the most commonly used words in English books. These words were introduced gradually over twelve levels of reading skill, with each new word being used several times to ensure recognition.

The first two pages of the first book are:-
Here is Peter.
Here is Jane.

I didn't know that, thanks. By an odd (?) coincidence, we had Dick and Jane in the USA. One wonders at the choice of similar boys' names. No doubt Australia now will have had Rodger and Jane, and Nigeria, Johnson and Jane.

The rival scheme was Janet and John.

I am currently undertaking a dance course and for our exam we have to choreograph a dance on the poem At 3 am by Wendy Cole. I was wondering if you could help me understand what the poem is about as I am finding it hard and there seems to be no information on the internet about it. You all were able to interpret the above poem so well that I hoped you could help me......

This is the poem in full,

At 3 am

the room contains no sound
except the ticking of the clock
which has begun to panic
like an insect, tapped
in an enourmous box.

Books lie open on the carpet.

Somewhere else
you're sleeping
and beside you there's a woman
who is crying quietly
so you won't wake.


Any ideas you have about the poem, what it is saying, the structure, the poetic devices used etc, anything! would be extremely helpful.

The actual stimulus for the dance is just up to and including "the books lie open on the carpet" it does not include the end verse but it is still relevent as part of my research,

Thank you sooooooooo much to anyone who has the time to reply!

I am currently undertaking a dance course and for our exam we have to choreograph a dance on the poem At 3 am by Wendy Cole. I was wondering if you could help me understand what the poem is about as I am finding it hard and there seems to be no information on the internet about it. You all were able to interpret the above poem so well that I hoped you could help me......

This is the poem in full,

At 3 am

the room contains no sound
except the ticking of the clock
which has begun to panic
like an insect, tapped
in an enourmous box.

Books lie open on the carpet.

Somewhere else
you're sleeping
and beside you there's a woman
who is crying quietly
so you won't wake.


Any ideas you have about the poem, what it is saying, the structure, the poetic devices used etc, anything! would be extremely helpful.

The actual stimulus for the dance is just up to and including "the books lie open on the carpet" it does not include the end verse but it is still relevent as part of my research,

Thank you sooooooooo much to anyone who has the time to reply!

Hollie, first of all let's set the record straight. The poem is by Wendy Cope.


At 3 am

the room contains no sound
except the ticking of the clock
which has begun to panic
like an insect, trapped
in an enourmous box.

Books lie open on the carpet.

Somewhere else
you're sleeping
and beside you there's a woman
who is crying quietly
so you won't wake.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


What the narrator has done in the poem is to give the characters, her own feelings.

The clock who feels like a trapped insect... is the narrator.
It is also the narrator who has begun to panic because it is getting late.
Obviously, her lover hasn't come home. She assumes he's with someone else.

In stanza two she says as much. "you're sleeping and beside you there's a woman"
It is the narrator who is crying and wished that he were sleeping next to HER and IF he were, she would not wake him.


Les

Wendy Cope, right. Cole is William Rossa Cole, who was also a fine poet.

Sure, one of the women (the speaker, and we can only infer the sex) is still lying awake at 3:00 a.m., listening to the ticking of the clock which reflects the growing panic she is feeling.

The other woman is less clear. We aren't told why on earth she should be quietly crying, hoping not to wake the person to whom the poem is addressed. We don't even know if the sleeping person is a man or woman either.

That doesn't matter for the assignment, I would think. All that is needed is to choreograph a dance routine based on the first stanza. Not that I have ever done anything like that, or could even if supplicated on prostrated breast. So, let's say we have a person in bed, lying with sheets and limbs akimbo, at first still and pensive, but becoming increasingly panic-stricken as the minutes pass. Somehow contrast that with the (text books, accounting books, reference books?) lying on the floor.

Like I say, I am glad it is your assignment and not mine.

Hi

I am also using the following poem by Wendy Cope to Choreograph a dance for my AS level exam.

At 3 am

the room contains no sound
except the ticking of the clock
which has begun to panic
like an insect, trapped
in an enormous box.

Books lie open on the carpet.

Somewhere else
you're sleeping
and beside you there's a woman
who is crying quietly
so you won't wake.

I wil really appreciate it if anyone out there could help me undertand the mood of the writer and the poem itself . A big TAHNK YOU to anyone who replies.

the mood

Desperation? Panicky? Forlorn? Despondent? Despairing? Gloomy?

Yeah, lotsa 'D' words. Despondent would be my choice.

And a big YOU'RE WECLOME back at you!

Thanks for your replies on 3 am they have been really helpful and I am know much more aware on what the poem is about!!!! Oh and sorry for putting cole, typo hehehe.

Just wanted to say thanks!

Speaking of William Cole, and I know we weren't, but I think it was he who invented the River Rhyme. He also invented the Uncoupled Couplet, where one takes the first line of a famous poem and changes the 2nd line to create a flash of wit or insight. I think this was his first one:

Whenas in silks my Julia goes,
The outline of her girdle shows.

Here are a couple more. It is a good game to play. I leave it to you to guess the originals.

Gather ye Rosebuds while ye may
But take your little pill each day.

There is a garden in her face;
Her dermatologist has the case.

i noticed you were also having difficulties finding infomation on the poem "at 3 am". i also have a dance exam soon based on this poem and i just wondered if you managed to find anything about it at all, and if so could you forward some links to me? i would be extremely greatful! x

bin on so many sites bout this dumb at 3 am poem ... starting 2 wish i wasnt doing it now ... but oh well ... it'll all come together .... iv had a thought that i thought id share considerin im stealin everyone elses views hehe
who says the 2 people .... from the 2 stanzas have anything in common? ... all we no is one is awake and the other is crying n tryin not wake some1 else ...... sooooooooo heres my thought (it aint that good s)
the person in the first stanza ... might be a woman .... cant sleep ... maybe she has just come out of a relationship .... maybe she just wants to be in one .... or maybe she is lonely and stressed .... the open books may symbolise research/writers block/ studying ..... we all no what exams are like now dont we? hehe ..... then theres then final stanza .... the person crying ... might be female again .... trying to hide her tears from a man .... because maybe their relationship has broken down ... or maybe it is a case of he's hitting her and shes hiding her tears as she doesnt want him to wake and do it again ....
just another theory
hope it helps any other dancer who was stupid enough to take this option (not that i can really say that considerin i took it 2 s) .....

peace

Hi, i've also chosen this question for my solo, i've been told to basically choreograph the dance around the first verse up until 'Books lie open on the carpet'. My interpretation is that she has woken up in the night unable to sleep, the ticking of the clock seems to be driving her crazy and she feels as if she is trapped in her own house hence the line 'Like an insect trapped in an enormous box' the insect being her, and the box being her house. I think the central line 'Books lie open on the carpet' means she has unfinished business or something she has to do which is playing on her mind. Has anyone got a different interpretation??? thanks xxx

That should work well, except I don't believe she ever fell asleep in the first place. You could be correct though.