In this course, Professor John McRae (University of Nottingham) explores the fifteen poems that make up the ‘Love and Relationships’ cluster for GCSE English Literature (AQA).
What is the poem love and Relationships about?
The poem is about the painful end of a relationship, with suggestions that it was a secret and forbidden love. It is told from the viewpoint of the poet who is struck by grief. It has bitter and melancholic tone. The structure of the poem is regular in rhythm and rhyme and highly controlled.
What poems do you compare in love and relationships?
- Mother, Any Distance by Simon Armitage. Love’s Philosophy by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
- Sonnet 29 – ‘I think of thee!’ by Elizabeth Barret Browning.
- Walking Away by C. Day Lewis.
- When We Two Parted by Lord Byron.
- Letters from Yorkshire by Laura Dooley.
- Key themes and connections: poems that you might choose to compare.
What poem can you compare follower to?
From “Death of a Naturalist” (1966)
’Follower’ is often compared to ’Digging’ which similarly expresses autobiographical points, his father, and his connection to nature.
How many poems are in the love and relationship anthology? – Related Questions
How do you revise for GCSE poetry anthology?
Here is some advice for revising poetry:
- Read the poem fully at least once and make sure you understand it.
- Annotate the poem with your ideas.
- Annotate the poem with ideas from others.
- Read over your notes.
- Practise answering essay–style questions with and then without your notes.
How are family relationships presented in walking away and mother any distance?
The tone of acceptance and theme of familial separation carries throughout both. Direct address is used in both to convey similar messages; in Walking Away, the father wishes to make his son aware of his fears but show that he ultimately accepts that he has to let him go.
What type of poem is follower?
‘Follower’ is a straightforward lyrical poem and is an excellent example of Heaney’s use of rural language within a controlled syntax that is full of long and short vowels, contrasting consonants and varied rhythms.
What is the message of the poem follower?
“Follower” tracks the way that the relationship between parents and their children changes over time. The speaker begins the poem with deep admiration and respect for his father, contrasting his father’s exceptional farming skills with his own stumbling ineptitude as he follows behind.
What’s the difference between a poem and a story?
The word “poetry” comes from the ancient Greek verb “to create.” While a short story is usually written in recognizable sentences, a poem is composed of lines, which may not observe the usual grammatical rules. Furthermore, rather than being organized into paragraphs, a poem is made up of verses, or stanzas.
Who wrote the poem follower?
Seamus Heaney is widely recognized as one of the major poets of the 20th century. A native of Northern Ireland, Heaney was raised in County Derry, and later lived for many years in Dublin. He was the author of over 20 volumes of poetry and
Who is famous as a romantic poet?
There were several famous Romantic poets who left their mark on poetry forever. The Romantic movement originated in England before later expanding. By most counts, Romanticism was started by just two writers: Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth.
What is a hob nailed wake?
His ‘hobnailed’ wake is the sight of the soles of his father’s boots studded with nails which makes them last longer. The writer talks about how he looked up to his dad, and wanted to grow up to plough too, but.
What is a polished sod?
He also mentions that sometimes he falls on the “polished sod”—not very helpful, young man. Here’s hoping his dad is an understanding guy. (The description of “polished” here suggests that the dirt is smooth and shiny where it’s been cut by the plow.)
What does his shoulders Globed mean?
His shoulders globed like a full sail strung. The poem ‘Follower’ opens up with the description of the speaker’s father; the narrator, his son, is describing the hard work his father does on the farm. He was a hard worker, as he “worked with a horse-plough”.
What is mother any distance about?
The poem is from the perspective of a son who is moving into a new home and has asked his mother for help measuring the house. Sonnet Loosely based on the format of a sonnet, and the loose format may suggest uncertainty as to how he feels towards his mother.
What is climbing my grandfather about?
The speaker of the poem may be thinking back to his childhood and how he used to view climbing his grandfather as climbing a mountain. Another interpretation could be that as an adult, climbing a mountain now reminds the speaker of his grandfather.
What does screed cheek mean?
Throughout the poem, the vocabulary explores how it felt to have contact with his grandfather – ‘firm shoulder’, ‘screed (rough, like gravel) cheek’, ‘soft and white’ hair, feeling ‘his heat’ and ‘slow pulse of his good heart.
Is Earth stained hand a metaphor?
‘Earth-stained’ alludes to his keenness for nature and the outdoors, whilst his ‘splintered’ nails emphasise how he has been weathered by this environment over the years. The fact that they ‘give good purchase’ is a metaphor for how his grandfather’s wisdom and experience benefit the youthful narrator.
How is relationship presented in climbing my grandfather?
Family relationships: The sense of a very close relationship is conveyed by the details of the grandfather’s body. The details of the grandfather’s features are the kind of details that only someone who knew him intimately could have encountered.
