Top 5 Poems to Compare in the Power and Conflict Anthology
Perfect pairings to master AQA GCSE English Literature Paper 2
One of the biggest challenges in the Power and Conflict poetry question is knowing which poems to compare. AQA provides fifteen poems, but in the exam, you’ll only be given one, you have to choose the second yourself. That’s why it's so important to revise smart and know which poems link together through theme, tone, and technique.
This post introduces five top poem pairings that explore conflict, power, identity and memory. Each section includes a quote, a comparison, and model analysis to help you make strong links in your exam.
🔹 1. Ozymandias and My Last Duchess
Theme: Power and control through legacy
Ozymandias: “Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
My Last Duchess: “I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together.”
🔍 What It Shows
Both poems explore the arrogance of powerful men. Ozymandias believes his legacy will last forever, while the Duke in My Last Duchess controls others even after death.
🧠 Zoom In
Shelley uses irony; the “Works” have crumbled, to show the futility of power over time. Browning uses sinister euphemism in “all smiles stopped” to imply murder and absolute control.
💬 Model Sentence
Both poets present power as something fragile and corrupt. While Ozymandias focuses on the decay of political power, Browning explores personal tyranny and control in relationships.
🔹 2. Bayonet Charge and Exposure
Theme: Physical and psychological impact of war
Bayonet Charge: “Sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest”
Exposure: “Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us…”
🔍 What It Shows
Hughes and Owen depict the toll of war on the human body and mind. One captures the adrenaline of battle, the other the agony of waiting.
🧠 Zoom In
Hughes’s metaphor suggests panic and pain, while Owen’s personification of the wind as a knife blames nature as much as enemy forces. Both show war as brutal and inhumane.
💬 Model Sentence
Both poems convey the horror of warfare, but while Hughes captures a single, chaotic moment, Owen presents the long-term psychological suffering endured by soldiers in the trenches.
🔹 3. Remains and War Photographer
Theme: Memory, trauma, and the lasting effects of conflict
Remains: “His bloody life in my bloody hands.”
War Photographer: “A hundred agonies in black and white”
🔍 What It Shows
These poems explore what happens after conflict — the inner war that continues long after the violence ends.
🧠 Zoom In
Armitage uses repetition and colloquial speech to show the speaker’s guilt. Duffy’s metaphor “hundred agonies” links images with emotional weight, showing how photography can preserve pain.
💬 Model Sentence
Both poems present memory as inescapable. Armitage focuses on personal responsibility, while Duffy suggests a wider numbness in society towards human suffering.
🔹 4. London and Tissue
Theme: Power, structure, and social control
London: “The mind-forged manacles I hear.”
Tissue: “Paper that lets the light shine through”
🔍 What It Shows
Blake and Dharker both criticise how society is controlled — through laws, buildings, money, or institutions.
🧠 Zoom In
Blake uses metaphor to suggest mental imprisonment, while Dharker uses the image of fragile paper to suggest that human structures are temporary and should be more open and humane.
💬 Model Sentence
Both poems challenge the power of human systems. Blake shows how they can oppress, while Dharker offers a more hopeful vision of transparency and change.
🔹 5. The Charge of the Light Brigade and Kamikaze
Theme: Patriotism, obedience, and the questioning of authority
Charge: “Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die.”
Kamikaze: “He must have wondered which had been the better way to die.”
🔍 What It Shows
Both poems deal with soldiers following orders — but Kamikaze offers a more critical, reflective view on what it means to die for your country.
🧠 Zoom In
Tennyson uses repetition and rhythm to glorify obedience. Garland’s closing line questions whether living in shame is worse than dying for a cause.
💬 Model Sentence
While Tennyson celebrates military duty, Garland challenges the consequences of blind obedience, suggesting that power over others’ lives can come with moral complexity.
✅ Revision Recap
These are five strong poem comparisons for your Power and Conflict revision:
Ozymandias / My Last Duchess – arrogant rulers
Bayonet Charge / Exposure – physical and mental war
Remains / War Photographer – trauma and memory
London / Tissue – societal control and fragility
Charge of the Light Brigade / Kamikaze – patriotism and consequence
Use them to practise PEEL paragraphs, plan essays, or structure your open-book revision.
💭 Try This:
Choose one of the pairs above and write a paragraph comparing how power is presented. Use this sentence starter:
Both poets present power as…