i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
Starter
Write down what you think the objects below might have to do
with a love poem (Nothing is not an acceptable answer!!!)
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
Learning Objectives
As we study this poem you will learn:
• the story of the poem
• be introduced to the terms,
– Complex Rhyme Scheme: Repetition: Pace/Tempo: Rhythm:
Tone: Enjambment
• how to read out the poem to the class in a group
• You will also complete some mini tasks and a test and an
assignment on the poem.
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
let me be your vacuum cleaner
breathing in your dust
let me be your ford cortina
i will never rust
if you like your coffee hot
let me be your coffee pot
you call the shots
i wanna be yours
let me be your raincoat
for those frequent rainy days
let me be your dreamboat
when you wanna sail away
let me be your teddy bear
take me with you anywhere
i don't care
i wanna be yours
let me be your electric meter
i will not run out
let me be the electric heater
you get cold without
let me be your setting lotion
hold your hair
with deep devotion
deep as the deep
atlantic ocean
that's how deep is my emotion
deep deep deep deep de deep deep
i don't wanna be hers
i wanna be yours
Mini Task 1
What is ‘the story of the poem’?
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
Mini Task 1 - The story of the Poem
• This is a love poem (FORM) and in the poem the poet is trying
to prove to his lady-love how useful he is and how much he
loves her.
• He is even prepared to let her take the lead in running the
relationship.
• At the end of the poem he accepts he has made a mistake by
loving another and he declares that he does not wish to be
with the other woman, he wants her.
• So the poet is either in a relationship which he wants to leave
for his new love; or he has cheated on his true love and now
wishes to go back to her.
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
Oral Task
• In your group practice reading out your section of the poem.
• You can allocate the words/lines any way that you want, but
everyone must be involved and you must all say at least one
line together. (You cannot all read all of it together!)
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
The Structure Of The Poem
Mini Task 2 - Composition
How is the poem composed?
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
The Structure Of The Poem
Mini Task 2 - Composition
The poem is composed of three stanzas, the first two have two
alternate rhyming couplets and a rhyming triplet. The final stanza
starts with alternate rhyming couplets but then has some unrhymed
lines between the quartet. The final stanza ends with a rhyming
couplet. This means the poem has a COMPLEX RHYME SCHEME.
An easier way to describe the rhyme scheme for i wanna be yours
is to use letters to represent the rhymed lines and an ‘x’ to
represent an unrhymed line. Ex.- ababcccx .
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
Mini Task 3 – Rhyme Scheme
• On your copy of the poem against the end of the lines, write
down the rhyme scheme for Stanza 1, 2 & 3.
• What makes this a Complex Rhyme Scheme?
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
let me be your vacuum cleaner a
breathing in your dust b
let me be your ford cortina a
i will never rust b
if you like your coffee hot c
let me be your coffee pot c
you call the shots c
i wanna be yours x
let me be your raincoat d
for those frequent rainy days e
let me be your dreamboat d
when you wanna sail away e
let me be your teddy bear f
take me with you anywhere f
i don't care f
i wanna be yours x
let me be your electric meter g
i will not run out h
let me be the electric heater g
you get cold without h
let me be your setting lotion i
hold your hair x
with deep devotion i
deep as the deep x
atlantic ocean i
that's how deep is my emotion i
deep deep deep deep de deep deep x
i don't wanna be hers j
i wanna be yours j
Because there is a clear but irregular or
inconsistent pattern of rhymes, this is a
Complex Rhyme Scheme.
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
The Structure Of The Poem
Mini Task 4 - Key Features
What is the Key Feature of the poem
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
The Structure Of The Poem
Mini Task 4 - Key Features
o The principal key feature of this poem is the use of REPETITION.
In I wanna be yours John Cooper Clarke uses repetition for
rhythmic purposes and to emphasize the point he is trying to
make. There are 139 words in this poem and 81 of them are
repetitions – more than half the poem!
o The other purpose of the repetitions is to demonstrate how
much he loves her, how useful he can be and how deep is his love.
To prove this he gives us the constant, plaintive refrains ‘let me be’
and ‘I wanna be yours’ as well as the section devoted to the
Atlantic Ocean.
o Because of the formal rhyme scheme and the large number of
repetitions the poem has a very strong RHYTHM and the
PACE/TEMPO of this poem is fast.
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
The Structure of the Poem
Mini Task 5 - Tone
Write down what you think the two TONES of the poem are.
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
The Structure Of The Poem
Mini Task 5 - Tone
o The principal tone of the poem is very ‘light’, even funny in places
because of the strange selection of objects that John Cooper Clarke
uses to demonstrate his love.
o However under the surface there is a darker and more serious side
to poem as it also about betrayal because the next to last line says “i
don’t want t be hers” . So the poet is either in a relationship with
another woman and wants to ‘dump’ her to go with the woman he is
talking to in the poem, or at some point in the past he was with the
woman he talks to and has left her to go with this other woman.
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
The Structure Of The Poem
Mini Task 6 – Key Line
• What is the Key Line in the poem?
• Why do you consider the line you have selected to be the most
important line in the poem?
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
The Structure Of The Poem
Mini Task 6 – Key Line
“i don’t want t be hers” is the key line in the poem because it is
essentially what the poem is about and is main point of the poem.
There is also the reference to ‘not running out’ – perhaps this is what
he did before that caused the relationship to end.
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
The Structure of the Poem
Mini Task 7 - Punctuation and Flow
On your copy of the poem write down the correct punctuation for
Stanza 2 and indicate what you think happens at the end of each line.
let me be your raincoat
for those frequent rainy days
let me be your dreamboat
when you wanna sail away
let me be your teddy bear
take me with you anywhere
i don't care
i wanna be yours
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
The Structure of the Poem
Mini Task 7 - Punctuation and Flow
On your copy of the poem write down the correct punctuation for
Stanza 2 and indicate what you think happens at the end of each line.
Let me be your raincoat
For those frequent rainy days.
Let me be your dreamboat
When you wanna sail away.
Let me be your teddy bear,
Take me with you anywhere.
I don't care.
I wanna be yours.
Let me be your raincoat 
For those frequent rainy days.
Let me be your dreamboat 
When you wanna sail away.
Let me be your teddy bear, 
Take me with you anywhere.
I don't care.
I wanna be yours.
The sense in the first line of
each couplet runs on to the next
line. This is ENJAMBMENT.
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
The Structure Of The Poem
Enjambment
Enjambment is a French word that means to step across or step
over. In poetry this means the sense in one line or stanza runs on to
another and punctuation usually stops this flow. Unfortunately there
is no punctuation in the poem to help with reading it aloud or to give
you clues to the points at which you need to pause for breath.
However, once you are used to the poem you can find the natural
breaks in the flow of the text.
Mini Task 8 - Enjambment
Now put in an arrow  at the ends of lines in the whole poem to
mark where you think Enjambment is.
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
The Structure Of The Poem - Enjambment
Let me be your vacuum cleaner  Let me be your electric meter. 
Breathing in your dust.
I will not run out.
Let me be your Ford Cortina, 
Let me be the electric heater 
I will never rust.
You get cold without.
If you like your coffee hot, 
Let me be your setting lotion 
Let me be your coffee pot.
You call the shots.
Hold your hair 
I wanna be yours .
With deep devotion,
Deep as the deep 
Let me be your raincoat 
Atlantic Ocean 
For those frequent rainy days.
That's how deep is my emotion.
Let me be your dreamboat 
When you wanna sail away. Deep deep deep deep de deep deep.
Let me be your teddy bear, 
I don't wanna be hers.
Take me with you anywhere.
I wanna be yours.
I don't care.
I wanna be yours .
11 Enjambments
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
The Structure Of The Poem - Imagery
Imagery: words and phrases that are used in literature to create clear
pictures or images in our minds.
The poem uses a strange selection of objects as proof of love.
Some objects are useful and others intimate or romantic.
MINI TASK 9
Write out a list of the objects used in the poem
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
The Structure Of The Poem - Imagery
Imagery: words and phrases that are used in literature to create clear
pictures or images in our minds.
The poem uses a strange selection of objects as proof of love.
Some objects are useful and others intimate or romantic.
MINI TASK 5
Write out a list of the objects used in the poem
vacuum cleaner
electric meter
ford cortina
electric heater
coffee pot.
setting lotion
raincoat
atlantic ocean
dreamboat
teddy bear
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
The Structure Of The Poem
Imagery
MINI TASK 10
Place the objects mentioned in the poem into
one of the two columns in the table in your MiniTask Booklet.
What do you notice about the list you have
drawn up?
Useful Objects
Intimate/Romantic Objects
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark
The Structure Of The Poem - Imagery
MINI TASK 10
Useful Objects
Intimate/Romantic Objects
Vacuum Cleaner
Raincoat
Ford Cortina
Dreamboat
Coffee Pot
Teddy Bear
Electric Meter
Setting Lotion
Electric Heater
Atlantic Ocean
You should have noticed that all the objects in
the first stanza are useful, the objects in the
second stanza are intimate or romantic and the
third stanza is a mix of both. The Atlantic Ocean
I have placed as a romantic object as it is used
to prove the depth of his love.
i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark