Poems of the Decade

Read the poem Cows by Laura Scott on page 3 of the source booklet and reread the anthology poem A Minor Role by U A Fanthorpe (on page 5).

Compare the methods both poets use to explore the protection of loved ones.

Read the poem Stillwater Cove by Ada Limón on page 2 of the source booklet and reread the anthology poem From the Journal of a Disappointed Man by Andrew Motion (on page 6).

Compare the methods both poets use to explore the act of observing.

Read the poem Now We Are Things Invisible by Vahni Capildeo on page 3 of the source booklet and reread the anthology poem The Gun by Vicki Feaver (on page 6).

Compare the ways both poets present transformations.

Read the poem On the New Bypass by Jane Commane on page 3 of the source booklet and reread the anthology poem An Easy Passage by Julia Copus (on page 6 of the Source Booklet).

Compare the methods both poets use to explore change.

Read the poem Map by Helen Tookey on page 2 of the source booklet and reread the anthology poem The Furthest Distances I’ve Travelled by Leontia Flynn (on page 4).

Compare the methods both poets use to explore personal reflections.

Read the poem Visitor by Rebecca Watts on page 2 of the source booklet and reread the anthology poem Chainsaw Versus the Pampas Grass by Simon Armitage (on pages 5–6).

Compare the ways both poets make use of gardens.

Read the poem Two Trees by Don Paterson on page 2 of the source booklet and reread the anthology poem Giuseppe by Roderick Ford (on page 4).

Compare the methods both poets use to explore unusual events.

Read the poem Growth by Les Murray on page 2 of the source booklet and reread the anthology poem To My Nine-Year-Old Self by Helen Dunmore (on page 4).

Compare the methods both poets use to explore adults looking back on childhood incidents.

Read the poem When Six O’Clock Comes and Another Day Has Passed by Kathryn Simmonds on page 2 of the source booklet and reread the anthology poem Effects by Alan Jenkins (on pages 4 and 5).

Compare the methods both poets use to explore emotional responses to birth and death.