Lecture on Recommended Poems for GCSE: Love and Relationship Cluster

Introduction

• Focus: Five key poems from the Love and Relationship cluster.
• Total poems in cluster: 15
• Strategy:
  • General understanding of all 15 poems.
  • Deep focus on 5 recommended poems for memorization and detailed study.

Recommended Poems

1. Sonnet 29

   • Form: Sonnet (14-line poem focusing on love).
   • Context: Freud and the id; worship as a desire.
   • Structure:
     • Part 1: Constant thoughts about the loved one.
     • Part 2: Desire to transform thoughts into action.
     • Part 3: Being with the loved one.
   • Key Quotes & Techniques:
     • "I think of thee my thoughts do twine and bud about thee as wild vines about a tree."
       • Simile/Metaphor: Obsessive, uncontrollable thoughts.
     • "Rather, instantly renew thy presence."
       • Techniques: Volta, enjambment.

2. Neutral Tones

   • Form: Epic poem (event of separation).
   • Theme: Love is portrayed negatively.
   • Key Quotes & Techniques:
     • "We stood by a pond that winter day."
       • Pathetic fallacy: Cold, sad, depressing setting.
     • "The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing."
       • Superlative, juxtaposition: Forced love.
     • "Since then, keen lessons that love deceits."
       • Volta, personification: Warning about the dangers of love.

3. The Farmer's Bride

   • Form: Dramatic monologue.
   • Context: Patriarchy and its impact.
   • Summary: Farmer marries a girl who is unhappy and runs away.
   • Key Quotes & Techniques:
     • "Three Summers since I chose a maid."
       • Objectification, chrommorphism.
     • "I turned the key upon her fast."
       • Volta: Imprisoning his wife.
     • "A lone poor maid is but a stair betwixt us."
       • Foreshadowing, cesura: Disjointed relationship.

4. Walking Away

   • Form: Epic poem (event of father-son separation).
   • Context: Based on poet’s life, sending son to boarding school.
   • Key Quotes & Techniques:
     • "Like a satellite wrenched from its orbit."
       • Simile, Volta: Instant separation.
     • "Love is proved in the letting go."
       • Juxtaposition: Coping mechanism.

5. Before You Were Mine

   • Structure: Four stanzas.
   • Theme: Family; mother’s life before children.
   • Key Quotes & Techniques:
     • "The thought of me doesn’t occur in the ballroom with a thousand eyes."
       • Hyperbole, cesura.
     • "The decade ahead of my loud possessive yell was the best one."
       • Volta: Sad undertone.
     • "Glamorous love lasts."
       • Juxtaposition, enjambment: Love vs. appearance.

Study Recommendations

• Learn the form, context, and key quotes of recommended poems.
• Practice comparing these poems with past exam papers.