- You study one cluster of 15 poems from this anthology (listed below).
- In Paper 1, Section A you get a choice of two questions on your cluster — you only answer one.
- The full poem is printed on the exam paper, so you don't need to memorise it word-for-word — but you DO need to know it well enough to discuss it confidently and quote accurately.
- Worth 25 marks, aim to spend about 45 minutes on it (don't let it eat into your prose question time).
- Examiners want a "sustained personal and evaluative engagement" — that's the exact phrase they use. Translation: don't just describe the poem, argue something about it.
Biggest trap
Quoting a line and explaining what it means is not analysis. Real analysis asks: why did the poet choose this word, this structure, this ending — and what effect does that have on me as a reader? Always link back to the question.
Almost every question the examiner writes is secretly about one of these three things. If you can place a poem
within a theme and explain how it's different from the others in that theme, you're already writing a
strong answer.
Theme 1 — Love & Relationships
Family love (
Follower), unrequited/cruel love (
Song: Love Armed), cynical views
of marriage (
A Married State), and idealised, timeless love (
Sonnet 18). Notice
how these four poems basically argue with each other about what love even is.
Theme 2 — Humans & Nature
Awe and fear of nature's power (
Hunting Snake), environmental destruction from war
(
Lament,
Report to Wordsworth), and harmony with nature
(
Before the Sun). These poems often borrow the voice of Romantic poets like Wordsworth to make a modern environmental point.
Theme 3 — Individual & Cultural Identity
Colonialism and language (
A Different History), exploitation of children
(
The Chimney-Sweeper,
Carpet-weavers, Morocco), place shaping the self
(
Where I Come From), and the human struggle for meaning (
The Cockroach,
An Essay on Man,
Storyteller).
Aphra Behn
Restoration poet & dramatist — from the 1676 play Abdelazer
Unrequited loveClassical allusion
What's actually happening: The speaker personifies "Love" as a cruel, god-like tyrant who sits
"in triumph" over the "bleeding hearts" he's conquered. It's an extended metaphor turning Cupid — usually a
cute cherub — into a sadistic warrior. The twist at the end: the speaker and their loved one together
created this monster ("Thus thou and I the God have armed"), but only the speaker's heart gets hurt while the
loved one walks away "victor... and free."
"Love in fantastic triumph sat, / Whilst bleeding hearts around him flowed"
Key techniques
Extended metaphor
Iambic tetrameter
Anaphora
Why it matters
satire