Edexcel GCSE Conflict poems: all 15 poems with analysis

The 15 poems in the Conflict cluster of the Pearson Edexcel GCSE English Literature poetry anthology (Paper 2 Section B Part 1: Poetry Anthology (Conflict)), with the key ideas of each one, a printable comparison grid and pairs of poems to compare. Every poem has a free lesson on its context, form and key methods.

All 15 Conflict poems

Poems in lesson order. Key ideas are summaries in our own words; use your anthology for exact quotations.
Poem	Poet	Key ideas	Lesson
A Poison Tree	William Blake	Hidden anger grows and kills	Lesson
The Destruction of Sennacherib	Lord Byron	Divine destruction of an army	Lesson
Extract from The Prelude	William Wordsworth	Guilt and the power of nature	Lesson
The Man He Killed	Thomas Hardy	The senselessness of killing a man like yourself	Lesson
Cousin Kate	Christina Rossetti	Betrayal and class	Lesson
Half-caste	John Agard	Sarcasm, rhetorical questions and Caribbean-influenced voice expose an absurd label	Lesson
Exposure	Wilfred Owen	Cold, waiting, futility, pararhyme	Lesson
The Charge of the Light Brigade	Alfred, Lord Tennyson	Heroic obedience, galloping rhythm, Crimean War	Lesson
Catrin	Gillian Clarke	Conflict between mother and daughter	Lesson
War Photographer	Carole Satyamurti	Luxury versus suffering, a false caption	Lesson
Belfast Confetti	Ciaran Carson	A riot in the Troubles, punctuation as shrapnel, lost identity	Lesson
The Class Game	Mary Casey	A Liverpool woman's angry, proud challenge to snobbery (couplets, direct address)	Lesson
Poppies	Jane Weir	A mother's grief and fear at home	Lesson
No Problem	Benjamin Zephaniah	A calm refrain rejects racist stereotypes	Lesson
What Were They Like?	Denise Levertov	Question and answer structure, a culture destroyed in the Vietnam War	Lesson

Conflict themes

These lessons group the poems by theme and compare them side by side.

Comparison grid

Print this grid and add your own notes and short quotations in the last column as you revise each poem.

Poem	Theme	Form	Compare with
A Poison Tree	inner conflict, anger and betrayal	Four quatrains in rhyming couplets (AABB) with a short, chant-like rhythm, almost like a nursery rhyme.
The Destruction of Sennacherib	war and the battlefield	Six quatrains in rhyming couplets (AABB).	The Charge of the Light Brigade
Extract from The Prelude	inner conflict, anger and betrayal	Written in blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter), which feels like a natural speaking voice and suits a memory being told.
The Man He Killed	war and the battlefield	Five quatrains with a regular ABAB rhyme scheme and a jaunty, ballad-like rhythm, as if the man is telling the story in a pub.
Cousin Kate	inner conflict, anger and betrayal	Written as a ballad with regular eight-line stanzas, rhyme and rhythm, which suits a story of love and betrayal.	The Class Game
Half-caste	identity, class and prejudice	Free verse with very short lines, almost no punctuation and lower case letters.	No Problem
Exposure	war and the battlefield	Eight stanzas of five lines, each ending with a short final line.	The Charge of the Light Brigade
The Charge of the Light Brigade	war and the battlefield	Six stanzas of different lengths, using dactylic metre (DUM-da-da): "Half a league, half a league, / Half a league onward".
Catrin	inner conflict, anger and betrayal	Two stanzas in free verse, addressed directly to "you" as if the mother is speaking to her daughter.	Poppies
War Photographer	the impact of war on people	It is told in the first person by a woman photographer, which gives it the feel of a personal memory or confession.	Belfast Confetti
Belfast Confetti	the impact of war on people	Two stanzas of long, sprawling lines, broken by punctuation and lists, which create a breathless, panicked rhythm.	Exposure
The Class Game	identity, class and prejudice	A dramatic monologue spoken directly to a snobbish listener, with regular rhyme that gives it a punchy, confident sound.	Half-caste
Poppies	the impact of war on people	Four stanzas of free verse, spoken by the mother to her son.	What Were They Like?
No Problem	identity, class and prejudice	Short lines with frequent rhyme, written in a voice influenced by Jamaican English, spelt as it sounds.	The Class Game
What Were They Like?	the impact of war on people	Two stanzas.	Poppies

Suggested pairs to compare

Each pair comes from the comparison question in one of our poem lessons, where you will find a worked answer.

The Destruction of Sennacherib and The Charge of the Light Brigade
Exam-style question: Compare how the power of an army is presented in The Destruction of Sennacherib and The Charge of the Light Brigade.
Cousin Kate and The Class Game
Exam-style question: Compare how unequal relationships are presented in Cousin Kate and The Class Game.
Half-caste and No Problem
Exam-style question: Compare how identity is presented in Half-caste and No Problem.
Exposure and The Charge of the Light Brigade
Exam-style question: Compare how the suffering of soldiers is presented in Exposure and The Charge of the Light Brigade.
Catrin and Poppies
Exam-style question: Compare how relationships between parents and children are presented in Catrin and Poppies.
War Photographer and Belfast Confetti
Exam-style question: Compare how the effects of conflict on ordinary people are presented in War Photographer and Belfast Confetti.
Belfast Confetti and Exposure
Exam-style question: Compare how the experience of violence is presented in Belfast Confetti and Exposure.
The Class Game and Half-caste
Exam-style question: Compare how pride in identity is presented in The Class Game and Half-caste.
Poppies and What Were They Like?
Exam-style question: Compare how the effects of war on families are presented in Poppies and What Were They Like?
No Problem and The Class Game
Exam-style question: Compare how prejudice is presented in No Problem and The Class Game.

How to compare two anthology poems in the exam →

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