One Flesh (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)

Revision Note

Sam Evans

Author

Sam Evans

One Flesh

The Edexcel GCSE English Literature Relationships Anthology contains 15 poems. In your exam question, you will be given one poem – printed in full – and asked to compare this printed poem to another poem you have studied. You will not have access to the second poem in the exam. 

Rather than trying to remember every line of the comparison poem, you just need to revise and recall the key aspects of the poem. To get a top grade, focus on developing your understanding of:

  • The meaning of the poem
  • The ideas and messages of the poet 
  • How the poet conveys these ideas through their methods
  • How these ideas compare and contrast with the ideas of other poets in the anthology

Below is a guide to Elizabeth Jennings's poem 'One Flesh', from the Edexcel Poetry 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

As part of the Edexcel Relationships Anthology, 'One Flesh' examines themes related to romantic love and feelings of loss or distance in a relationship. The exam question asks you to compare the way poets have presented these particular ideas across two anthology poems.

Learn how the themes in 'One Flesh' compare and contrast with other poems in the anthology rather than understanding the poem in isolation. 

See the section below on “What to compare it to” for detailed comparisons of 'One Flesh' and other poems in the anthology.

Overview

In order to answer an essay question on any poem, it is important to understand what it is about. This section includes:

  • The poem in a nutshell
  • A “translation” of the poem, section-by-section
  • A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Elizabeth Jennings's intention and message

'Our Flesh' in a nutshell

'Our Flesh', written by the poet Elizabeth Jennings, explores intimate romantic relationships. The poem also examines how familiarity in long relationships can create distances and divisions. 

'Our Flesh' breakdown

Lines 1–3

“Lying apart now, each in a separate bed, 

He with a book, keeping the light on late, 

She like a girl dreaming of childhood,”

Translation

  • The poem describes a couple in their bedroom, but they are in their own beds
  • The scene is intimate though; a light is on and the couple appear relaxed

Jennings's intention

  • Jennings's poem explores a romantic relationship by depicting a private moment
  • The use of third-person pronouns, though, creates a sense of detachment 

Lines 4–6

“All men elsewhere – it is as if they wait

Some new event: the book he holds unread,

Her eyes fixed on the shadows overhead.”

Translation

  • The couple are isolated and distant from each other as “All men” are “elsewhere”:
    • This may suggest they feel alone or highlight the private nature of the scene
  • They appear to be waiting for something to happen and are distracted

Jennings's intention

  • Jennings describes a couple who seem uneasy in their relationship:
    • They are each in their own world
  • They seem isolated even though they are together
  • The mention of “shadows overhead” creates an ominous tone

Lines 7–8

“Tossed up like flotsam from a former passion,

How cool they lie. They hardly ever touch,”

Translation

  • These lines describe the way the relationship used to be, full of “passion”:
    • Their “former passion” has been “Tossed up”, implying it has been disturbed
  • The  speaker describes how “cool” the room is and that they are not close 

Jennings's intention

  • Jennings describes their earlier passion and intimacy to present a loving relationship 
  • She shows how it has changed with contrasting words “passion” and “cool” and an ugly simile “like flotsam” (unwanted rubbish)
  • The lines emphasise the distance between the couple with two short phrases in one line:
    • The speaker sounds saddened by the situation

Lines 9–10

“Or if they do it is like a confession

Of having little feeling – or too much.”

Translation

  • These lines suggest that when the couple do touch it is uncomfortable:
    • This is implied with the contrasting ideas: “little” and “too much”
  • The couple’s intimacy is compared to a “confession”:
    • This may suggest how intimacy makes each partner feel the “truth” about their love; perhaps it makes them see that their relationship has changed

Jennings's intention

  • Jennings uses religious imagery to connote, perhaps, to the disciplined, ritual-like way they touch each other
  • The dash in the second line unsettles the mood and conveys imbalance 

Lines 11–12

“Chastity faces them, a destination

For which their whole lives were a preparation.

Translation

  • These lines refer to a future that is chaste, without sexual intimacy (“Chastity”)
  • The speaker suggests that not only is it inevitable their relationship will become this way, but also that they prepared for it

Jennings's intention

  • Here, Jennings appears to imply the couple’s past has led to this moment
  • There are various interpretations for this reference:
    • Perhaps Jennings is referring to marriage, or to the the cycle of life, or commenting on the couple’s lack of care for their relationship 

Lines 13–14

“Strangely apart, yet strangely close together,

Silence between them like a thread to hold”

Translation

  • The speaker says that it is strange that their relationship has led them apart
  • Referring to “Silence” implies a lack of communication
  • The “thread” simile suggests their connection is thin

Jennings's intention

  • Here, Jennings highlights the poem’s message about loneliness in relationships
  • These lines convey, with the repetition of “strangely”, the dichotomies of love
  • Comparing their bond to a “thread” implies it is fragile

Lines 15–16

“And not wind in. And time itself’s a feather

Touching them gently. Do they know they’re old,”

Translation

  • Here, the poet describes time metaphorically as a feather to suggest to its soft and ephemeral qualities
  • This implies the process of ageing is barely noticeable (time is “Touching them gently”)
  • The poet seems to question whether the couple have noticed the changes

Jennings's intention

  • Jennings comments on the process of getting old to describe the way the relationship changes without the couple’s knowledge, and to explore the way love alters over time

Line 17–18

“These two who are my father and my mother

 Whose fire from which I came, has now grown cold?”

Translation

  • The speaker tells readers that the poem is describing their parents
  • The speaker asks how a passionate “fire” that creates life can become “cold”:
    • This means that the speaker (their child) was born from their love

Jennings's intention

  • Jennings uses the symbolism of “fire” to reflect the parents’ past passion 
  • This is contrasted with “cold” to show the changes in the relationship 
  • The poem’s ending raises questions about changing relationships, especially marriage

Exam Tip

As the exam question will ask you to compare how the given poem presents a key theme with another one from the anthology, start your answer using the wording of the question and summarise the key theme in the poem. 

This demonstrates to the examiner that you have understood what the question is asking of you, but also that you have a good understanding of the poems themselves. 

For example, “'One Flesh' explores the key themes about distanced relationships. This theme can be linked to…” . 

See the section “What to compare it to” for further suggestions.

Writer’s methods

Although this section is organised into three separate sections – form, structure and language – it is important to take an integrated approach, focusing on the main themes and ideas of the poem and then evaluating how Jennings's choices of language, structure and form contribute to these ideas. In essence, how and why the poet has made the choices they have, in relation to their intentions and message. 

Focusing on the poet’s main ideas, rather than individual poetic techniques, will gain you far more marks. In the below sections, all analysis is arranged by theme, and includes Jennings's intentions behind her choices in terms of:

  • Form
  • Structure
  • Language

Exam Tip

Examiners want to see references to language, form and structure – the poetic techniques that a poet has used – to support your analysis of the theme and message of the poem. 

They don’t want to see “technique spotting”, which is when a student mentions a technique but without analysing how the poet’s choice to use such a technique contributes to their overall message.

Examiners also want to see relevant evidence in the form of quotations from the poem, but again, only if relevant to your analysis.

Form

The form of 'One Flesh' conveys ideas about close and constant romantic relationships. However, Jennings presents an established relationship that seems distant and cold. 

Theme

Evidence

Poet's intention

Loss and distance

The poem presents a first-person speaker reflecting on a relationship that is not their own:

  • The speaker describes a couple: “He with a book” and “She like a girl”

Jennings describes the romantic relationship from a detached perspective:

  • She conveys the couple’s separation by referring to them one at a time, and as individuals

The poem is made up of three regular stanzas to convey their constancy

The poem’s form creates a sense of regularity and routine to describe the established relationship 

The poem ends without resolution:

  • The speaker asks a question about long, familiar relationships

Jennings's poem ends with a confused speaker who appears reluctant to accept the idea that passion will inevitably grow “cold”

Jennings explores the lack of intimacy in long-lasting romantic relationships through an uneasy speaker 

Structure

The structure of the poem represents the conventional and constant nature of marriage. However, it is the speaker’s voice that conveys the emotion that is missing in the parents’ relationship. 

Theme

Evidence

Poet's intention

Complex love


 

 

 

The poem uses iambic pentameter to create a calm rhythm

The poem’s regular rhythm contributes to the idea of reliability in the relationship

The rhyme scheme is regular in the first two stanzas:

  • Rhyming couplets like  “the book he holds unread,/Her eyes fixed on the shadows overhead” show the couple’s routine 

The poet presents the couple’s habits as monotonous and lacking excitement 

Jennings, though, conveys the speaker’s concern and hints at problems:

  • Caesurae are used throughout the poem to imply imbalance

The poet alludes to distance in the parent’s relationship and the speaker’s own uneasy response

The last two lines break the rhyme scheme with “mother” and “cold” to show the speaker’s emotions : 

  • This is emphasised with a rhetorical question

The speaker conveys their confusion about the nature of their parent’s marriage

 

Jennings conveys the speaker’s dismay at the way the familiarity and routine in their parent’s marriage has affected their intimacy

Language

The poem combines contrasting imagery with phrases that mirror each other to examine the contradictory nature of marriage. Its title alludes to religious ideals of marriage. 

Theme

Evidence

Poet's intention

   

Romantic relationships 

The title refers to a verse in the Bible that describes marriage: 

  • The line, “they shall be one flesh” from Genesis 2:24, suggests that when  two people marry, they become one 

Jennings's poem explores the close bond of marriage and draws attention to its traditional values

   

Jennings contrasts the idea of “passion” and “fire” with “cool” and “cold” to signify the change in the couple’s intimacy:

  • A simile, “Tossed up like  flotsam” perhaps implies that this process is like  decay

The poem explores how the intensity of love diminishes over time

   

Repetition of the word “strangely” to describe the couple as “apart” and “together” implies the relationship is in some ways unnatural 

Jennings's speaker appears uneasy about the surprising distance in their parents’ marriage

   

The speaker describes time as a “feather/Touching them gently” to describe the ageing process 

While the poem examines the lack of intimacy in a marriage, Jennings’s use of sensual language recalls their former love 

   

 

Jennings explores the concept of marriage and the inevitable yet barely perceptible  changes that come with ageing and long relationships

   

Context

The best way to understand and comment on context in this poem is to explore the ideas and perspectives Jennings explores in ‘One Flesh’: 

  • Complex love
  • Romantic relationships

Complex love 

  • Elizabeth Jennings (1926–2001) was a prolific and celebrated twentieth-century English poet who published twenty-six collections of poetry and won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1955
  • Jennings was inspired by Victorian poet Gerald Manley Hopkins:
    • Both were strict Catholics and suffered from mental illness and depression 
    • This may have contributed to the spiritual themes and religious imagery in Jennings's poems
    • One of her poetry collections, The Mind Has Mountains, published in 1966, contains a line from Hopkins's mournful poem ‘No worst, there is none’
    • ‘One Flesh’ appears in this 1966 collection and has a similarly melancholic tone 
    • Its gloomy rhetorical question in the last line presents a desperate speaker who finds little comfort in the inevitability of the distance in their parent’s marriage 
  • Elizabeth Jennings was the only female poet to be included in The Movement, a group of English poets whose work took on anti-romantic ideas using traditional conventions: 
    • The poem ‘One Flesh’ uses a regular structure and traditional conventions such as iambic pentameter, and it uses archaic references like “Chastity”
    • However, this is juxtaposed with more banal, everyday references such as “He with a book”
  • Jennings's poetry often conveys darker undercurrents in traditional relationships: 
    • ‘One Flesh’ acknowledges how “strangely” their relationship has evolved 

Romantic relationships 

  • While Elizabeth Jennings grew up during World War II, her poetry reflects the turbulence of the 1960s and 1970s (when most of her poetry, including this poem, was written)
  • In this way, Jennings's poetry may reflect the changing landscape in post-war Britain, a time of rebellion from the establishment and the rise of popular culture
  • Experimental poets of the time advocated for civil rights and feminism using unconventional styles to deviate from tradition
  • However, it has been argued that Jennings reflects a portion of society that looked for constancy instead, in a bid to restore their faith in established ideas:
    • The poem ‘One Flesh’ presents a disillusioned speaker who seems to question their parents’ marriage
  • Although the 1960s brought new freedom regarding female sexuality, traditional members of society fought to resist change:
    • The idea of sex before marriage was considered a defiance of Christian values
    • A generational clash ensued whereby the younger generation questioned established ideals and values, such as the sanctity of marriage
    • The poem ‘One Flesh’ alludes to a verse in the Bible that sets out Christian marriage ideals: that two individuals become one upon entering marriage
    • The poem refers to the idea of preparing for marriage, as if it is the final “destination”, perhaps commenting on society’s attitudes to marriage

What to compare it to

In the exam, you will write a comparison of the ideas and themes explored in two of your anthology poems. It is therefore essential that you revise the poems together, in pairs, to understand how each poet presents ideas about love or relationships, in comparison to other poets in the anthology. 

Given that 'One Flesh' explores the ideas of romantic relationships and complex love, the following comparisons are the most appropriate:

  •  'One Flesh' and '1st Date – She & 1st Date – He’
  •  'One Flesh' and 'Neutral Tones'
  •  'One Flesh' and 'The Manhunt'

For each pair of poems, you will find:

  • The comparison in a nutshell
  • Similarities between the ideas presented in each poem
  • Differences between the ideas presented in each poem
  • Evidence and analysis of these similarities and differences

Exam Tip

One of the best ways to prepare for your exam is to ensure you know how themes are presented across the collection of Relationships poems, rather than revising poems in isolation.

You need to make perceptive comments about the way poets have chosen to present their themes (or messages), and then support your comments with evidence, such as language and structural techniques, as well as referring to the poems’ titles.  

Remember, it is essential that you not only write about the named poem, but compare it to one other in the anthology. Only writing about the poem given on the paper will severely limit your marks.

‘One Flesh’ and '1st Date – She and 1st Date – He’

Comparison in a nutshell:

Both poems present emotional distance between a couple in a romantic relationship. However, while Jennings's poem offers a melancholy view of marriage, Cope’s poem is more comedic in nature.  

Similarities:

Topic sentence

Both poems describe intimate yet uncomfortable moments in a romantic relationship 

Evidence and analysis

'One Flesh'

'1st Date – She & 1st Date – He’

Jennings illustrates how a couple have grown apart in a marriage:

  • They are “each in a separate bed”

Cope presents the thoughts of a nervous couple on a date unable to voice their private feelings:

  • The setting of Cope’s poem is a “half-dark” classical music concert, perhaps suggesting hidden elements in the relationship 

Jennings's speaker describes the couple one at a time to highlight their separation: “He with a book” and “She like a girl”:

  • Jennings creates a sense of tension in the silence that is “like a thread to hold”

Cope’s female and male speaker observe each other secretly: “his face it’s a picture/Of rapt concentration”:

  • Unspoken tension is conveyed in, “So we haven’t had much time for talking/And I’m a bit nervous”

In Jennings's poem the couple show little interest in each other, yet the poet hints at repressed desire:

  • His book is held “unread” and her “eyes fixed on the shadows”
  • This is juxtaposed with a simile that implies strong emotions: “like a confession/Of having little feeling – or too much” 

Cope presents parallel first-person speakers who hide their desires from each other:

  • The female speaker thinks “He is totally into this music/And quite undistracted by me” 
  • While the male speaker thinks “I mustn't appear too besotted./Perhaps she is out of my league”

The poets both examine barriers in romantic relationships that are a result of repressed feelings

Topic sentence

Both poets explore the idea of idealised love

Evidence and analysis

'One Flesh'

'1st Date – She & 1st Date – He’

Jennings refers to traditional attitudes to marriage, that it is a “destination/For which” the couple’s “whole lives were a preparation”:

  • The poem challenges religious values that perceive a married couple as “One Flesh”
  • The poem suggests that, instead, it leads to “Chastity” and lack of intimacy

Cope depicts how the lovers’ attempts to appear sophisticated lead to divisions between them: 

  • The female speaker hopes her “brow was acceptably high”
  • They both try to think of something “clever to say” instead of getting to know each other 

Jennings's speaker describes the couple’s bedtime routine with a regular rhythm to allude to the relationship’s traditional nature:

  • Yet Jennings suggests it is awkward: “it is as if they wait/Some new event”

Similarly, Cope’s poem presents speakers who are awkward, yet polite:

  • The poem’s regular abcb rhyme scheme creates a constant rhythm
  • The male thinks about the “traffic” that “was dreadful this evening”

Jennings ends the poem with a rhetorical question that conveys the speaker’s confusion at the distant relationship 

Cope’s ironic poem ends unresolved:

  • The male speaker is left trying to think of something to say
  • They are left trying to impress each other 

Both poets depict individuals who feel powerless in love or relationships

Differences:

Topic sentence

While Jennings's poem is a melancholic reflection on dying passion, Cope presents a comedic insight into a flirtatious first date

Evidence and analysis

'One Flesh'

‘1st Date – She & 1st Date – He’

Jennings employs iambic pentameter to create a steady rhythm to reflect the stagnant yet reliable marriage

Cope gives a portrayal of two individuals nervously starting a relationship:

  • Iambic tetrameter conveys excitement and nervousness 

Jennings's old, married couple do not speak to each other:

  • Instead the speaker (their child) expresses earnest concern at the ageing process: “Do they know they’re old”

Cope portrays the couple’s troubled thoughts:

  • The female speaker says “I couldn’t care less what they play”
  • The male speaker asks “Where are we?” 

Jennings evokes a dark mood describing the couple’s love as “Tossed up like flotsam”:

  • Caesurae highlight the couple’s divisions, “How cool they lie. They hardly ever touch”

Cope’s poem is comedic as it mocks the confused feelings that come from the couple’s desire:

  • The male speaker “mustn’t appear too besotted”
  • He is intrigued by her “neckline” 

While both poems draw attention to distances in relationships, Jennings's poem expresses disillusionment while Cope’s is lighthearted 

Exam Tip

Begin your answer with a clear overview of the overarching themes within both poems and clearly outline your choice of second poem in your introduction. 

In each paragraph of your answer, use the theme to move between both poems and provide evidence to illustrate your arguments. 

Alternatively, you could choose to focus on one poem first, and then the other, linking your ideas back to the main theme. 

Whichever structure for your answer suits you best, make sure the comparison is embedded and your ideas for both texts are well-developed without too much repetition.

'One Flesh' and 'Neutral Tones'

Comparison in a nutshell:

Both ‘One Flesh’ and ‘Neutral Tones’ explore distance and loss in romantic relationships. However, while Jennings's poem describes a marriage from the perspective of an adult child, Hardy’s poem is a personal direct address to a lover.

Similarities:

Topic sentence

Both poems portray distance in loving relationships 

Evidence and analysis

'One Flesh'

'Neutral Tones'

While the couple in Jennings's poem are married, they are each in a “separate bed” and “Lying apart”

Similarly, Hardy describes two lovers in a long relationship who are together at a lake, yet unable to find intimacy

Jennings uses a caesura to highlight the divisions between the couple, such as in, “How cool they lie. They hardly ever touch”:

  • Imbalance is implied in, “Of having little feeling - or too much”

In Hardy’s poem, too, the speaker describes an imbalanced relationship:

  • The lover’s eyes “rove/Over tedious riddles of years ago”
  • The half-rhyme conveys a lack of harmony 

Enjambment creates a suspenseful mood and hints at lack of resolution: “it is as if they wait/Some new event:”

Hardy employs a simile and ellipsis to suggest love eludes the speaker: “Like an ominous bird a-wing…”

  • Their love is flying away
 

The poems both portray the sense of isolation that comes from a lack of intimacy in a loving relationship 

Topic sentence

Both poems explore feelings of powerlessness in romantic relationships

Evidence and analysis

‘One Flesh’

'Neutral Tones'

Jennings's first-person speaker expresses concern and surprise at the relationship:

  • Repetition highlights this in the line “Strangely apart, yet strangely close together”

Hardy’s poem similarly portrays a first-person speaker’s concern: 

  • An oxymoron statement describes the love as “Alive enough to have strength to die”

Jennings uses contrasting diction to show the change in the relationship:

  • Words like “passion” and “fire” oppose “cool” and “cold”
  • She describes ageing with sensory imagery, comparing it to “a feather/Touching them gently”

Hardy, too, employs imagery that conveys the couple’s vulnerability in the face of change: 

  • Natural imagery alludes to dying: “a few leaves lay on the starving sod” that had “fallen from an ash, and were gray”

Religious imagery in Jennings's poem alludes to society’s attitude to love, which the couple have failed to fulfil:

  • Instead of being “One Flesh” as dictated in the bible, they face “Chastity”

Hardy’s poem uses religious imagery in a similar way: 

  • It refers to a “God-curst sun” under which the couple have been punished or chided (“chidden”)
  • It suggests “love deceives”
 

The poets present speakers who are frustrated in their relationships because of unresolved problems, leading to disillusionment 

 Differences:

Topic sentence

While Jennings's poem offers an outside perspective on marriage, Hardy’s poem is a personal address to a loved one

Evidence and analysis

‘One Flesh’

'Neutral Tones'

The speaker in Jennings's poem describes their parents’ marriage: 

  • The speaker says “These two who are my father and my mother/Whose fire from which I came” 

In contrast, Hardy’s poem is a direct address: 

  • The speaker says “Your eyes on me” and “some words played between us”

Jennings's couple do not express their feelings: 

  • Instead, the book he “holds” is “unread” and “Her eyes fixed on the shadows”

Hardy’s poem expresses the couple’s strong emotions, like a smile that is the “deadest thing” and “a grin of bitterness”

Jennings's poem describes isolation, such as in the line, “All men elsewhere”

The poem is personal and intimate: 

  • The speaker laments, “Your face”

Jennings describes the quiet acceptance of a stagnant marriage, while Hardy’s poem is an emotional depiction of miscommunication in a relationship 

'One Flesh' and 'The Manhunt'

Comparison in a nutshell:

This is an effective comparative choice to explore the presentation of romantic relationships and the complexities of love. However, while Jennings describes the lack of intimacy that comes with familiarity, Armitage describes a sensual, physical relationship.  

Similarities:

Topic sentence

Both poems portray loving relationships that offer comfort 

Evidence and analysis

‘One Flesh’

‘The Manhunt’

Jennings describes a couple in bed at night: 

  • Sensory imagery creates an intimate mood, such as “How cool they lie” and “Touching them gently”
  • Alliteration highlights the “light on late”

Armitage also portrays intimate moments in a relationship: 

  • Repetitive couplets describe the speaker’s gentle touch
  • Alliteration creates a poignant tone in “parachute” and “punctured”

Jennings conveys a sense of calm constancy in the steady iambic pentameter and regular rhyme scheme 

Armitage implies patient tenderness in the relationship with a pattern of verbs:

  • The speaker would “explore” and “attend” to the loved one
  • This is repeated throughout to suggest steadfast love

In ‘One Flesh’, sparse but emotive language conveys the strength of the bond when they touch: “Of having little feeling – or too much.”

Emotive language in ‘The Manhunt’ links the physical to emotional intimacy:

  • The speaker can “feel the hurt” of their “grazed heart”
 

The poems both describe intimate and long-lasting romantic relationships 

Topic sentence

Both poems offer perspectives on distance in romantic relationships 

Evidence and analysis

‘One Flesh’

'The Manhunt'

In Jennings's poem, the relationship has been destabilised:

  • Vivid imagery and alliteration imply chaos (“Tossed up like  flotsam”)
  • The couple are “Lying apart now”

Similarly, Armitage’s speaker suggests a change in the relationship:

  • Anaphora stresses the ending of passion: “After the first phase,/after passionate nights”

Jennings hints at a sense of isolation in the relationship: 

  • Detachment is suggested in lines like “Her eyes fixed on the shadows overhead”

Similarly, Armitage uses metaphorical imagery to convey barriers in the relationship, such as a “frozen river” and a “fractured rudder”

Both poets present the complexities of love with tender reflections 

 Differences:

Topic sentence

While Jennings writes about a love that is fading, Armitage portrays a relationship that attempts to bridge the emotional distance 

Evidence and analysis

‘One Flesh’

'The Manhunt'

The relationship in Jennings's poem is described as fragile, like a “thread” or a “feather”

On the other hand, Armitage repeats the phrase “only then” to show an urgent need to regain intimacy:

  • Indeed, the poem’s title implies a dedicated search

Jennings's poem is written about the speaker’s parents:

  • The speaker says “They hardly ever touch”

In contrast, Armitage’s poem presents a steady and determined first-person speaker: “Then I widened the search,/traced the scarring back to its source”

‘One Flesh’ ends with a rhetorical question and use of contrast: 

  • This suggests a lack of resolution for the estranged couple: “Whose fire from which I came, has now grown cold?”

Armitage closes his poem on a hopeful note with the speaker’s enthusiastic and emphatic, “Then, and only then, did I come close.”

Jennings's poem offers little hope for the marriage, while Armitage’s poem offers hope that a lost love will be regained

Exam Tip

It is best to choose poems that specifically explore the theme in the poem. Be as specific as you can when considering similarities and differences, but make sure you are comparing ideas, not techniques. 

For example, you could choose to compare the presentation of conflicted relationships in ‘One Flesh’ and ‘The Manhunt’. You might wish to explore the idea of long-lasting love in ‘One Flesh’ and ‘Neutral Tones’. 

What is important is that you view the poems thematically, with a clear emphasis on relationships. This will give you a better framework in which to write your response in the exam.

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Sam Evans

Author: Sam Evans

Sam is a graduate in English Language and Literature, specialising in journalism and the history and varieties of English. Before teaching, Sam had a career in tourism in South Africa and Europe. After training to become a teacher, Sam taught English Language and Literature and Communication and Culture in three outstanding secondary schools across England. Her teaching experience began in nursery schools, where she achieved a qualification in Early Years Foundation education. Sam went on to train in the SEN department of a secondary school, working closely with visually impaired students. From there, she went on to manage KS3 and GCSE English language and literature, as well as leading the Sixth Form curriculum. During this time, Sam trained as an examiner in AQA and iGCSE and has marked GCSE English examinations across a range of specifications. She went on to tutor Business English, English as a Second Language and international GCSE English to students around the world, as well as tutoring A level, GCSE and KS3 students for educational provisions in England. Sam freelances as a ghostwriter on novels, business articles and reports, academic resources and non-fiction books.