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
Martha's Vineyard Poet Laureate who has lived on the island of Martha's Vineyard for over 40-years. He is a member of the Cleaveland House Poets of West Tisbury on Martha's Vineyard. Cleaveland House Poets, is a poetry group that has grown out of a poetry group founded in the house of same name by Dionis Coffin Riggs. The group has met every two weeks since c1960. MV Poet Laureate Lee McCormack has composed poetry since age twelve, and has undertaken intensive poetry studies with: Galway Kinnell; Sharon Olds; Charles Simic; Robert Pinsky; Thomas Lux; Peter Klappert; Steve Orlen; George Mills (writer); Short-term critical studies