2026–2027 poetry · read the full selection and build evidence
Use the correct fourteen-poem option and component · Create a poem-by-poem record beyond titles · Prepare passage and whole-text responses
Exam scope and assessment notes
0408 preparation for exam year(s) 2026, 2027. The assessment changes in 2028; follow the component and selected texts for your year. Original StudyForA commentary and practice for the 2026–2027 Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 Paper 3 option. Read all fourteen prescribed poems in your centre-selected anthology; linked texts may differ in spelling, punctuation or layout. Brief quotations are separated from commentary, and full protected poems are not reproduced here. Archival papers are sources for the poem text, not the current 0408 paper rules. Models do not award Cambridge marks or grades. Alternative supported interpretations can be valid. Teacher assessment and calibrated full papers remain unfinished. This is neither the 2025 Volume 2 selection nor the revised 2028–2030 compulsory Paper 2 selection, and listed poems are not eligible texts for 2026–2027 coursework.
Before you begin
- Confirm that your centre selected the 2026 or 2027 Volume 1 poetry option. Have the complete poem and its original line/stanza layout open. For this option prepare every prescribed member, not only favourites; private candidates cannot enter 0408.
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
What should support a claim about a literary text?
What you will learn
- Use the correct fourteen-poem option and component
- Create a poem-by-poem record beyond titles
- Prepare passage and whole-text responses
Keep the year and option exact
These fourteen Volume 1 poems are the same Paper 3 option in 2026 and 2027. A student choosing another eligible Paper 3 text does not have to prepare this poetry option too. A student choosing the option should read the full prescribed selection. It is not the Volume 2 list for 2025 or the different compulsory Volume 3 poetry from 2028. Paper 2 is unseen poetry in the old cycle.
A record needs evidence and changes
For each poem record speaker/addressee, situation, a significant turn, two or more precise details, and how form or language supports an interpretation. Keep original line breaks and stanza layout visible in the anthology. Practise first with the poem, then from memory; in a closed-book response, accurate unquoted references are better than invented quotations. None of these listed poems is an eligible 2026–2027 coursework text.
Sources for this lesson
- Cambridge World Literature 0408 · 2025–2027 · Version 2
- Cambridge 0408 · revised 2025–2027 component weightings
- Cambridge World Literature 0408 · 2028–2030 · Version 1
- Cornford · Childhood · Cambridge 8695/91 (2012), p.5 · archival poem reprint hosted by CIE Notes
- Dickinson · Because I could not stop for Death (479) · poem text, Poetry Foundation
- Bishop · One Art · poem text, Poetry Foundation
- Tennyson · from The Princess: Tears, Idle Tears · poem text, Poetry Foundation
- Spender · My Parents · poem text, Poetry Foundation
- Adcock · For Heidi With Blue Hair · Cambridge 2010/12 (2017), p.4 · archival poem reprint; Mew · The Trees Are Down · Cambridge 2010/12 (2017), p.5 · archival poem reprint
- Nichols · Praise Song for My Mother · authorised text and poet recording, Poetry Archive
- Heaney · Follower · poem text, Poetry Foundation
- Larkin · The Trees · authorised text and recording, Poetry Archive
- Pitter · Time’s Fool · Cambridge 8695/93 (2011), p.5 · archival poem reprint hosted by CIE Notes
- Mew · À Quoi Bon Dire · public-domain text, Academy of American Poets
- Browning · Meeting at Night · public-domain text, Academy of American Poets
- Housman · Because I Liked You Better · primary poem text, Victorian Queer Archive, Dickinson College
Pause and explain
Does this 2026–2027 selection become the compulsory 2028 Paper 2 list?
Worked example
What should a fourteen-title checklist gain before it becomes an evidence record?
Show the worked solution
- Add precise details and their locations.
- Explain a change, method and possible interpretive complication for each poem.
Answer Replace recognition of names with verifiable reading and an argued response.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
A 2027 student chose this poetry option but read only five members. How much of the prescribed reading remains?
Give me a hint
Use the complete count, not a percentage of mastery.
Compare my reasoning
- There are fourteen members.
- Fourteen minus five leaves nine poems; reading alone is not mastery.
Nine prescribed poems still need reading, followed by study and practice across the complete selection.
Look for these in your work
- Count missing members
- Separate reading from mastery
What two kinds of evidence should a record for One Art contain?
Give me a hint
Link form with development.
Compare my reasoning
- Verify stanza/line pattern and recurrence.
- Track a change in the force of the claim with precise detail.
Record actual formal evidence and a meaningful turn, then explain their relation rather than attach labels alone.
Look for these in your work
- Use form accurately
- Explain development
A 2028 study plan imports all fourteen titles as Paper 2 preparation. What must change?
Give me a hint
Consult the revised list and component.
Compare my reasoning
- Use the actual fifteen Volume 3 poems.
- Keep these lessons identified as the older Paper 3 option.
Replace the stale list with the revised selection and preserve year-specific routes.
Look for these in your work
- Use the correct volume
- Use the correct component
Common mistakes
- Do not impose this option on students who selected another Paper 3 text.
- Do not treat a checked title as completed reading.
What can you explain now?
Does this 2026–2027 selection become the compulsory 2028 Paper 2 list?
Compare with the explanation
No; the revised cycle uses a different Volume 3 selection.
Prepare the actual year’s paper and prescribed poems, rather than carrying forward an old option.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
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Make it stick
Does this 2026–2027 selection become the compulsory 2028 Paper 2 list?
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.