AQA Worlds and Lives Poems: All 15 Poems, Quotes and Pairings
By Julie at GCSE Ninja (a parent, not a teacher or examiner) · Updated 5 November 2026 · 6-minute read
Worlds and Lives is one of the three AQA GCSE English Literature poetry clusters. It has 15 poems. In the exam you are given one of them and compare it with one other from the cluster. This page lists all 15, what each is about, and which poem to pair it with.
Get the free 15-sheet poetry packShort on time? Start here
- Read the list below and open the poems you are least sure about.
- Learn two or three short quotes for each, from the poem pages.
- Practise pairings: every poem page suggests partners and gives a practice question.
Jump to: The 15 poems · How the exam works · Themes · Pairing table · Free pack
The 15 Worlds and Lives poems
1. Lines Written in Early Spring
William Wordsworth · out of copyright
A calm spring scene turns to grief at what people do to each other.
Read the Lines Written in Early Spring page: quotes and exam use
2. England in 1819
Percy Bysshe Shelley · out of copyright
Shelley condemns king, army, laws and Parliament, and ends on a ghostly hope.
3. Shall earth no more inspire thee
Emily Brontë · out of copyright
Nature speaks to a lonely dreamer and offers friendship and a home.
Read the Shall earth no more inspire thee page: quotes and exam use
4. In a London Drawingroom
George Eliot · out of copyright
Eliot sees London as grey, repetitive and prison-like.
5. On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955
James Berry · in copyright
A train journey in 1955 exposes a woman’s ignorance, answered with irony.
Read the On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955 page: quotes and exam use
6. Name Journeys
Raman Mundair · in copyright
Names and identity struggle to take root in England.
7. pot
Shamshad Khan · in copyright
A poem spoken straight to a pot taken from its home.
8. A Wider View
Seni Seneviratne · in copyright
A speaker walks the streets of her ancestor in industrial Leeds.
9. Homing
Liz Berry · in copyright
An accent is treated as a precious thing kept in a box.
10. A Century Later
Imtiaz Dharker · in copyright
A schoolgirl faces violence for wanting to learn, and answers back.
11. The Jewellery Maker
Louisa Adjoa Parker · in copyright
A craftsman walks to work and imagines the women who will wear his jewellery.
12. With Birds You’re Never Lonely
Raymond Antrobus · in copyright
A noisy London café gives way to a peaceful New Zealand forest.
Read the With Birds You’re Never Lonely page: quotes and exam use
13. A Portable Paradise
Roger Robinson · in copyright
Advice on carrying a private paradise through hard times.
14. Like an Heiress
Grace Nichols · in copyright
A speaker returns to a childhood coast and finds it changed.
15. Thirteen
Caleb Femi · in copyright
A thirteen-year-old is cornered by an officer near home.
The list of 15 poems comes from the Collins teacher guide hosted on AQA’s website; we have not checked it against AQA’s specification. Poems 1 to 4 are out of copyright. Poems 5 to 15 are still in copyright, so our pages use short extracts only. Read each poem in full in your anthology.
Free: all 15 Worlds and Lives poems, one page each
The big idea, the context, the language, the form and which poem to pair it with, for every poem in the cluster. Free, and sent straight to your inbox.
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How the Worlds and Lives question works
Section B of Paper 2 is poetry. It is worth 30 marks: 12 for your response (AO1), 12 for methods (AO2) and 6 for ideas and contexts (AO3) (AQA mark scheme 8702/2, June 2024). For this cluster you are given one poem printed on the paper and write about it and one other poem you choose from the cluster. If you write about only the printed poem you have not answered the question.
The one-printed-poem-plus-one-other format comes from the Collins teacher guide hosted on filestore.aqa.org.uk and from revision sites; we have not checked it against AQA’s specification. The marks are from AQA’s June 2024 mark scheme for the Power and Conflict version of Section B.
Won marks
- An opening argument that answers the question
- Comparing in every paragraph, not only at the end
- Naming a method and saying what it does
Lost marks
- Writing about the printed poem only
- Learned structures and stock openings
- Context that does not explain a choice
Sources: AQA Report on the Examination, June 2024 (Paper 2).
The big ideas across the cluster
Save My Exams groups the 15 poems under five ideas: identity and culture, nature and the environment, belonging and loneliness, migration and prejudice, and power and authority. Our own quick sort:
| Idea | Poems to start with |
|---|---|
| Nature | Lines Written in Early Spring · Shall earth no more inspire thee · With Birds You’re Never Lonely |
| Power and protest | England in 1819 · A Century Later · Thirteen |
| City life and strangers | In a London Drawingroom · On an Afternoon Train from Purley to Victoria, 1955 · Thirteen |
| Identity, names and voice | Name Journeys · pot · Homing |
| Heritage and home | A Wider View · The Jewellery Maker · A Portable Paradise · Like an Heiress |
Our sort, not AQA’s. Many poems fit more than one idea, which is why comparing them works.
Pairing table: which poem to compare with which
These are our suggestions. Any poem from the cluster can be used, so choose the pair you can write about best.
Quick FAQ
How many poems are in Worlds and Lives?
Fifteen, from Wordsworth in 1798 to Caleb Femi.
Do I have to compare two poems?
Yes. You are given one poem and compare it with one other from the cluster. Writing about one poem only does not answer the question.
Can I quote the poems in full?
Poems 1 to 4 are out of copyright. Poems 5 to 15 are in copyright, so we only use short extracts. Read each poem in full in your anthology.
Where next
All 15 poems in one place:
Practise the method on real papers:
Find every text we cover:
Sources checked. Poem list: Collins teacher guide hosted on filestore.aqa.org.uk (not checked against AQA’s specification). Marks and report points: AQA 8702/2 mark scheme and Report on the Examination, June 2024. Themes: Save My Exams overview. Quotes on the poem pages: several online copies, not the printed book.
GCSE Ninja is written by parents, not teachers or examiners, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by AQA. Model answers are our own examples, written to AQA’s published mark scheme. They are not official AQA answers and we cannot guarantee any grade. Please check quotations against your own copy of the text.
