Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom and October 1892, there was a break of four years as a mark of respect; Tennyson's laureate poems "Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington" and "The Charge of the Light Brigade" were particularly cherished by the Victorian public. Five poets, Thomas Gray, Samuel Rogers, Walter Scott, Philip Larkin and Seamus Heaney, turned down the laureateship. The holder of the position as of 2018 is Carol Ann Duffy, who was appointed in May 2009 on a fixed ten-year term. The origins of the poet laureateship date back to 1616 when James I of England granted a pension to
Poet laureate "Loved Laurel-Crowned Poet of California" by a 1919 state Senate resolution, retaining the title until her death in 1928. Juan Felipe Herrera was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown in March, 2012. The State of Colorado appointed one of the most popular Poets Laureate of the late 20th century, singer/songwriter writer John Denver. Twin Poets, Nnamdi Chukwuocha and Albert Mills, were selected as 17th Poets Laureate of the State of Delaware on December 13, 2015. Edmund Skellings was selected as the poet laureate of Florida in 1980. He died in 2012. Illinois appointed its first poet laureate, Howard Austin, in 1936,