Each poetry anthology in the GCSE contains 15 poems, and in the poetry question in the exam you will be given one poem on the paper - printed in full - and asked to compare this given poem to one other from the anthology. You will not have access to the other poems in the exam, so you will have to know them very well from memory. Fifteen poems is a lot to learn. However, understanding four things will enable you to produce a top-mark response:
- The meaning of the poem
- The ideas and messages the poet wanted to convey
- How the poet conveys these ideas and messages through their methods
- How these ideas compare and contrast with the ideas and themes of other poems in the anthology
Below is a guide to When We Two Parted by Lord Byron, from the Love and Relationships anthology. It includes:
- Overview: a breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations
- Writer’s methods: an exploration of the poet’s techniques and methods
- Context: an exploration of the context of the poem, relevant to its themes
- What to compare it to: ideas about which poems to compare it to in the exam
Exam Tip
When We Two Parted is part of the Love and Relationships anthology of poems, and the exam question asks you to compare the ideas presented in two of these anthology poems, specifically related to the ideas of love and relationships.
It is therefore as important that you learn how When We Two Parted compares and contrasts with other poems in the anthology as understanding the poem in isolation. See the section below on ‘What to Compare it to’ for detailed comparisons of When We Two Parted and other poems in the anthology.