P2.B.LRLove and Relationships cluster — 15 poems including *When We Two Parted* (Byron), *Love's Philosophy* (Shelley), *Porphyria's Lover* (Browning), *Sonnet 29* (Browning), *Neutral Tones* (Hardy), *Letters from Yorkshire* (Dooley), *The Farmer's Bride* (Mew), *Walking Away* (Day Lewis), *Eden Rock* (Causley), *Follower* (Heaney), *Mother Any Distance* (Armitage), *Before You Were Mine* (Duffy), *Winter Swans* (Sheers), *Singh Song!* (Nagra), *Climbing My Grandfather* (Waterhouse)

The AQA Love and Relationships anthology cluster (Paper 2 Section B) contains 15 poems exploring the many facets of love — romantic love, parental love, lost love, obsessive love, and the body. The question names one poem and asks you to compare it with a poem of your choice.

The 15 poems (key content)

1. "When We Two Parted" (Byron) — silent grief over a secret ended relationship; cold, monosyllabic diction.
2. "Love's Philosophy" (Shelley) — playful argument from nature that union is natural; metaphor of rivers and winds merging; the final "you" refuses.
3. "Porphyria's Lover" (Browning) — dramatic monologue; obsessive male narrator strangles Porphyria to "fix" the perfect moment; disturbing calm.
4. "Sonnet 29 — 'I think of thee'" (E. B. Browning) — Petrarchan sonnet; the lover's thought is replaced by physical presence; erotic longing in Victorian form.
5. "Neutral Tones" (Hardy) — a grey winter scene after a relationship has failed; nature as emotional mirror; bitter memory.
6. "The Farmer's Bride" (Mew) — dramatic monologue; the farmer's young, terrified wife; male desire vs. female fear; ambiguous ending.
7. "Walking Away" (C. Day Lewis) — a father watches his son become independent; parental love as letting go; the pain of separation.
8. "Letters from Yorkshire" (Maura Dooley) — long-distance love maintained by letters; rural vs. urban life; the intimacy of writing.
9. "Eden Rock" (Causley) — parents waiting on the other side of a stream; death and reunion; tender, calm, childlike.
10. "Follower" (Heaney) — a son admires his farming father; roles reversed; guilt and embarrassment in old age.
11. "Before You Were Mine" (Duffy) — daughter imagines mother's pre-motherhood life; possessive love; loss of a self.
12. "Winter Swans" (Sheers) — a couple after an argument; the swans as emblem of loyal love; reconciliation.13. "Singh Song!" (Nagra) — love poem in Punjabi-English; the shopkeeper whose mind is on his new wife; comic joy; cultural identity.
13. "Climbing My Grandfather" (Waterhouse) — extended metaphor of climbing a grandfather as a mountain; tenderness and discovery.
14. "Love's Philosophy" — NOTE: some editions also include poems at the teacher's discretion; AQA specifies the 15 above as the canonical set.

Key themes for comparison

Obsessive love: "Porphyria's Lover," "The Farmer's Bride" — both explore male possession; both use dramatic monologue; both end ambiguously.

Parental love: "Walking Away," "Before You Were Mine," "Eden Rock," "Follower," "Climbing My Grandfather."

Lost love / the ending of love: "When We Two Parted," "Neutral Tones."

Romantic/erotic love: "Love's Philosophy," "Sonnet 29," "Singh Song!," "Winter Swans."

The passage of time: "Neutral Tones," "Follower," "Before You Were Mine."

The comparison question

Format: "Compare the ways [named poem] presents [theme] with one other poem from the Love and Relationships cluster. (30 marks)"

• AO1 (15 marks): compare and contrast meaningfully; track attitudes and ideas.
• AO2 (15 marks): analyse language, form, structure; use subject terminology.
• AO3 (0 marks in this question — context not assessed in Q26).

Comparison strategy

1. Choose the second poem quickly — 2 minutes. Pick one that allows genuine, interesting comparison. Obvious pairings: both obsessive → "Porphyria's Lover" and "The Farmer's Bride." Less obvious but sophisticated: "When We Two Parted" (cold loss) vs. "Neutral Tones" (grey loss) — different emotional textures for similar themes.
2. Structure: integrated comparison (weave back and forth) or parallel structure (discuss Poem A then Poem B then compare). Most examiners prefer integrated comparison — it shows you genuinely reading both together.
3. Useful comparative phrases: "Both poets…", "While [Poet A] uses [x], [Poet B] employs [y]…", "In contrast to…", "Similarly…"

AO2 focus areas

• Form: sonnet vs. dramatic monologue vs. free verse — what does the choice say about the poem's subject?
• Tone: cold and bitter ("Neutral Tones") vs. comic and warm ("Singh Song!") — how does tone reflect the poem's attitude to love?
• Imagery: natural imagery in many poems — Hardy's "white ash" vs. Sheers's "swans" — same vehicle, different tenor.
• Voice: first or dramatic monologue — whose perspective are we limited to? What is hidden?