The Orange and Other Poems

by Wendy Cope

My heart has made its mind up
And I'm afraid it's you.

The Orange and Other Poems provides the perfect introduction to Wendy Cope, one of Britain's wittiest, best-selling, and best-loved poets.

In poems that go from laugh-out-loud funny to deeply moving, Cope offers reflections on love and life. From the joy of falling—and being—in love to how to manage a painful break-up to cherishing the memories of people loved and lost, this is a collection to savour and share.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Romance, Classics, Short Stories, Contemporary, Summer

53 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 9, 2023

About the author

Wendy Cope was educated at Farringtons School, Chislehurst, London and then, after finishing university at St Hilda's College, Oxford, she worked for 15 years as a primary school teacher in London.

In 1981, she became Arts and Reviews editor for the Inner London Education Authority magazine, 'Contact'. Five years later she became a freelance writer and was a television critic for 'The Spectator magazine' until 1990.

Her first published work 'Across the City' was in a limited edition, published by the Priapus Press in 1980 and her first commercial book of poetry was 'Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis' in 1986. Since then she has published two further books of poetry and has edited various anthologies of comic verse.

In 1987 she received a Cholmondeley Award for poetry and in 1995 the American Academy of Arts and Letters Michael Braude Award for light verse. In 2007 she was one of the judges for the Man Booker Prize.

In 1998 she was the BBC Radio 4 listeners' choice to succeed Ted Hughes as Poet Laureate and when Andrew Motion's term of office ended in 2009 she was once again considered as a replacement.

She was awarded the OBE in the Queen's 2010 Birthday Honours List.

Gerry Wolstenholme
February 2011

Reviews

[sarah pascalle · Rating 5 out of 5]

only bad thing about this is that it‘s only 35 pages

[emma]

checking in to see if i like poetry yet

[Carolyn Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first time reading a collection of poems by Wendy Cope, and it was an absolute treat! Her clever wit made me genuinely laugh out loud several times, which (for me) no poetry collection has ever done before.

Wendy Cope narrates the audiobook herself and gives wonderful insights into her inspirations and thoughts on many of the poems.

[Léa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her poetry always feels like such a treat <3 perfect for the winter blues

[Alberto Villarreal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Creo que nunca entenderé la poesía contemporánea gringa

[Sîvan Sardar · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful, poignant and touching - the perfect depiction of what it is to be loved, and what it means to love

[Athiene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love you. I’m glad I exist


(reading for a second time, trying to find an angle for an essay/book review and failing. feeling a little dissapointed about it but sometimes books are meant to be by themselves)

[Seán Horgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

just so so so lovely. I had plans to read a poem from this once a day but I ended up reading it cover to cover while wrapped up in bed with a cup of tea (10/10 would recommend). I usually put a book on my shelf once I'm finished but I've kept this beside my bed and have already picked it up again a few times since

[persephone ☾ · Rating 3 out of 5]

with all of the love and due respect, it should have only been The Orange and "other poems" should have been left out

[Emily Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover is so beautiful!!! And oh I love The Orange. But I did not really care for the rest of the poems in this short collection.

[maya ☆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is going to be as equally short as the collection was. unfortunately i'm in the minority.

my attraction to this collection was simply to the name and the famous poem, "the orange", a soft poem grateful for the love they find in having different relationships. for sure, most of the poems in the collection also focus on the existential gratefulness between friends and other loved ones. and it's most definitely good prose, do not get wrong - i liked "dutch portrait". but i was not impressed beyond that. i felt that some poems did not belong in the short collection. it didn't... reach me. and overall, i felt very indifferent. i was just reading it. i assume it must be consumed when in the mood of feel gratefulness for life.

perhaps i will come back to it someday but currently that's all i have to say.

[leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

i’ve read wendy cope’s poetry collection ‘serious concerns’ (where i first discovered her most well-known poem ‘the orange’ and fell in love with it), but there were some poems in here i hadn’t read before which were great. this edition is also just the cutest ever.

[makayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

i feel personally victimized by these poems

[Juliana Carreri · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful poetry about the mundane, perfect way to star the new year.

[Lexi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover art is forever a 5 star for me.

[Sarah ♡ (let’s interact!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bad brain days call for reading poetry. The Orange, and Other Poems by Wendy Cope is a short, and often-times humorous, collection. The humour is interspersed with some very emotional lines, which moved me. There’s a lot of musings about love and life, and everything in between.

”My heart has made its mind up. And I’m afraid it’s you.”

3.5 Stars 🍊

[Matthew Ted]

8th book of 2024.

A cute new collection of Cope poems. I know "The Orange" by heart, anyway. It's one of those poems that did nothing for me for a long time until I then read it at a certain point in time and it just clicked for me. Now it always reminds me of that door opening and revealing solace. After all, it's about finding beauty and peace in the small things.

The Orange
At lunchtime I bought a huge orange—
The size of it made us all laugh.
I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—
They got quarters and I had a half.

And that orange, it made me so happy,
As ordinary things often do
Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park.
This is peace and contentment. It’s new.

The rest of the day was quite easy.
I did all the jobs on my list
And enjoyed them and had some time over.
I love you. I’m glad I exist.

The rest, as ever with Cope: sweet, sad and sometimes poignant. Some really tiny ones in here like,

Two Cures for Love

1. Don't see him. Don't phone or write a letter.
2. The easy way: get to know him better.

I like that in the universe of Cope's poetry, things are simple, they work out, and only need a bit of tending to, like a garden.

[Nikey · Rating 2 out of 5]

i love "the orange" very much.
but i sadly didn't love the rest

[Alaska Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

hay poemas que se sienten como un abrazo.

[Emma Griffioen · Rating 4 out of 5]

50% of this overlapped with Serious Concerns, but even though I read that yesterday, I didn't mind! My favourite of the new poems in this collection was 'Being Boring' 🍊

[Karolína · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's about love and everything else, but mostly about love

[Juno Sh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not even tumblr poetry is this bad

[LegallyDead · Rating 1 out of 5]

You are all liars and you know it

[ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for the orange only! i love you, i’m glad i exist🍊:)

[Leo Sirianni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a gift from my friend. Read it to my mother. Her enjoyment of it amplified my enjoyment which bumped the rating from a four to a five. Her favorites were Leaving and Loss.

[fulcrum · Rating 2 out of 5]

i didn't even like “the orange"

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought for The Orange; read the rest in one sitting because they make everything just a little bit more bearable. The epitome of “I want to live a vibrant life but I want to die a boring death.” Felt like I was watching Dinnerladies for the first time. Am now going to watch Dinnerladies for the 57th time.

[okaylib · Rating 1 out of 5]

very hetero

[Décio Coelho · Rating 5 out of 5]

As short as it is good.

“My heart has made its mind up
And I’m afraid it’s you.”

[alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

such a wonderful little collection of poetry. beautiful, vivid imagery that puts the ailments of the human heart on display.

a few duds that stuck out due to how jarringly different they felt from the rest, but overall amazing.