Songs of Ourselves, Volume 1 (set poems)

This is the Cambridge IGCSE set selection of 15 poems from Songs of Ourselves, Volume 1, the prescribed poetry for 0992 Paper 1, Section A. The poems range across four centuries, from Shakespeare and the seventeenth-century writers Behn, Philips and Pope, through Blake, to modern and contemporary voices such as Rumens, Mungoshi, Lochhead, Clarke, Boey Kim Cheng, Bhatt, Wright, Halligan, Brewster and Heaney. Together they offer a rich variety of forms, voices and themes 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 on the poetry, usually a choice between a question on a single named poem (often printed on the paper) and a question inviting comparison or a thematic response. The examiner rewards close analysis of how each poet creates meaning, through form, language, imagery and sound, and a confident personal response supported by detail.

The set poems

The 15 poems are: Shakespeare, 'Sonnet 18'; Aphra Behn, 'Song: Love Armed'; Katherine Philips, 'A Married State'; William Blake, 'The Chimney-Sweeper'; Alexander Pope, 'from An Essay on Man'; Carol Rumens, 'Carpet-weavers, Morocco'; Charles Mungoshi, 'Before the Sun'; Liz Lochhead, 'Storyteller'; Gillian Clarke, 'Lament'; Boey Kim Cheng, 'Report to Wordsworth'; Sujata Bhatt, 'A Different History'; Judith Wright, 'Hunting Snake'; Kevin Halligan, 'The Cockroach'; Elizabeth Brewster, 'Where I Come From'; and Seamus Heaney, 'Follower'.

Why it matters for the exam

This guide treats each set poem in turn, 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 comparative questions. It is designed to let you analyse any of the 15 poems in depth and to compare them confidently for the top marks.