GCSE English Literature - Belonging Anthology Context

To My Sister (William Wordsworth)

- A Romantic poet
- Lived with sister Dorothy
- Opposed the values of the Enlightenment

Sunday Dip (John Clare)

- Romantic poet
- Poem captures Romantic themes

Mild the Mist Upon the Hill (Emily Bronte)

- Mother and sisters died
- Family experienced a rural, isolated existence
- Family steeped in grief

Captain Cook - To My Brother (Letitia Landon)

- Innocence of childhood contrasts conflict with brother
- Brother spread rumours of scandalous sexual behaviour
- Died aged 35 by drinking poison

Clear and Gentle Stream (Robert Bridges)

- Was a doctor
- Poet Laureate from 1913 until death
- Has been sung and set to music
- Deeply religious man

I Remember, I Remember (Thomas Hood)

- Innocence of childhood contrasts illness of adulthood
- Romantics believed childhood to be innocent/good because they haven't been corrupted by society

Island Man (Grace Nichols)

- Born in Guyana but moved to England
- Poem expresses homesickness immigrants feel when they have moved away from home

We Refugees (Benjamin Zephaniah)

- Over 84 million people displaced this century
- Poem written at the start of this worldwide refugee crisis

Peckham Rye Lane (Amy Blackmore)

- Explores experiences of people part of the windrush generation
- Fragmented style hints at how difficult, but diverse and poetic this community is

Us (Zaffar Kunial)

- Born in Birmingham (extremely diverse city)
- Born to an English father and Nepalese mother

In Wales, Wanting to be Italian (Imtiaz Dharker)

- Born in Pakistan but moved to Glasgow when she was young
- Poet lives in a variety of different countries

Kumukanda (Kayo Chingonyi)

- Kumukanda is name given to a tribal ceremony for young boys to become men
- Without clear initiations, boys find it difficult to transition into men

Jamaican British (Raymond Antrobus)

- Born to a Jamaican father and English mother
- Poet struggles with his identity

My Mother's Kitchen (Choman Hardi)

- Family is constantly refugees
- Autobiographical poem

Emigree (Carol Rumens)

- The identity of the speaker's homeland is unspecified so it is applicable to all displaced people