Songs of Ourselves, Volume 3 (set poems)

This is the Cambridge IGCSE set selection of 15 poems from Songs of Ourselves, Volume 3, prescribed poetry for 0992 (and shared with 0408 World Literature) on Paper 1, Section A. The poems span from the seventeenth century (Shakespeare, Chudleigh) and the Romantic and Victorian periods (Clare, Wordsworth, Elizabeth Barrett Browning) to a wide range of modern and contemporary voices (Komey, Oswald, Dallas, Alvi, Polley, Dunmore, Gray, Ante, Murray, Amadiume). They offer rich variety of form, voice and theme for close study and comparison.

How it is examined

In Paper 1, Section A (Poetry), candidates study all 15 set poems and answer one question, usually a choice between a question on a single named poem (often printed on the paper) and a comparative or thematic response. The examiner rewards close analysis of how each poet creates meaning through form, language, imagery and sound, supported by a confident personal response.

The set poems

The 15 are: John Clare, 'Insects'; Ellis Ayitey Komey, 'Oblivion'; Alice Oswald, 'Fox'; Ruth Dallas, 'Deep in the Hills'; Moniza Alvi, 'My Aunts Don't Want to Move'; Jacob Polley, 'Ruin'; William Wordsworth, 'from The Prelude'; Helen Dunmore, 'Bouncing Boy'; Yvonne Gray, 'Lightness'; William Shakespeare, 'Sonnet 106'; Lady Mary Chudleigh, 'To the Ladies'; Romalyn Ante, 'Ode to a Pot Noodle'; Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 'from My Heart and I'; Les Murray, 'The Widower in the Country'; and Ifi Amadiume, 'Mistress of My Own Being'.

Why it matters for the exam

This guide treats each set poem with a summary, close analysis, a note on form and scansion, and key quotations, alongside anthology-wide themes, a quotation bank and full essay practice including comparison. (Quotations are grounded in the poems' texts; for a small number of poems whose full text was not available at the time of writing, the analysis is general and no verbatim quotation is given.)