3.2.2.1The cluster at a glance
The cluster ranges from Romantic and Victorian poems such as 'When We Two Parted', 'Love's Philosophy', 'Porphyria's Lover', Sonnet 29 and 'Neutral Tones' to modern poems including 'Follower', 'Mother any distance', 'Before You Were Mine', 'Winter Swans', 'Singh Song!' and 'Climbing My Grandfather'. Roughly half concern romantic love and half family relationships.
- dramatic monologue
- a poem spoken by a character who is not the poet, used in 'Porphyria's Lover'
- volta
- a turn in a poem, often between the octave and sestet of a sonnet
- conceit
- an extended and elaborate metaphor, as in Sonnet 29's vine and tree
3.2.2.1Useful pairings
Obsessive or controlling love: 'Porphyria's Lover' with 'The Farmer's Bride'.
Parents and children: 'Follower' with 'Mother any distance', 'Walking Away' or 'Eden Rock'.
The end of love: 'Neutral Tones' with 'When We Two Parted'.
Happy or celebratory love: 'Singh Song!' with 'Winter Swans'.
3.2.2.1Themes
The cluster sets kinds of love against each other rather than celebrating one. The most productive comparisons are between poems that treat the same relationship from opposite ends, such as a parent letting go and a child looking back.
Common mistake
Choosing a comparison poem on the day. Decide your pairings in advance for the three or four likeliest themes, so the exam is about analysis rather than selection.
3.2.2.1Poets' methods
Form carries meaning throughout: the sonnet's turn, the dramatic monologue's self-incrimination, the free verse of the modern poems against the regular stanzas of the older ones. Compare form directly rather than describing each poem's form separately.
Worked example
Answer:
- Compare form directly, not poem by poem
- Decide pairings in advance for the likeliest themes
- The cluster contrasts kinds of love rather than praising one
- AO3 is six marks, so context supports rather than leads
AO1-AO4How this text is examined
This text is examined in Paper 2, Section B. The question is worth 30 marks and one poem from the cluster is printed and you compare it with one other poem of your choice from the same cluster. Allow about 45 minutes.
The marks are divided as AO1 12 marks, AO2 12 marks, AO3 6 marks. AO1 rewards a clear argument supported by well-chosen references. AO2 rewards analysis of how the writer achieves an effect, which means writing about choices rather than about events. AO3 rewards context used to deepen a reading of the text.
Common mistake
Retelling the plot. Narrative summary earns nothing under any assessment objective, however accurate it is. Every paragraph should be making a point about how or why, not about what happens.