Verse 2026 Higher Level Poetry – Textbook & Portfolio

• All past questions for each poet and sample questions for newly prescribed poets are included.
• Contains all eight poets prescribed for examination in 2026.
• Features a clear, colourful A4 layout. A key image accompanies each poem.
• Timeline for each poet offers relevant biographical detail to give context to their work.
• Pre-reading and comprehending and responding questions for all poems.
• Exploring sections after each poem offer immediate, clear analysis in a concise format. Relevant quotations and biographical details are integrated in the commentary, providing a model for essay answers.
• Creating questions contain innovative writing assignments prompted by the poem, which allow practice for Paper 1 through the study of poetry with common formats such as letters and blog posts.
• End-of-chapter theme sections contain handy reference tables showing the main themes within each poem. Major themes are explored in depth, bringing together an overall analysis of the poet.
• End-of-chapter language and imagery sections offer notes on key literary techniques used by the poet, with relevant examples for each.
• Sample essay plans and paragraphs for each poet develop skills in building structured answers that respond accurately to the question asked.
• Unseen poetry section offers friendly guidance on approaching the unseen question with a variety of fresh poems and songs.
• Glossary of poetic terms gives clear explanations to refer back to when needed.
• Exam advice sections provide useful information on preparing for and answering on prescribed and unseen poetry.

Poetry Skills Portfolio

Create an invaluable revision guide for exam time. Build up knowledge of studied poets. Develop writing skills for producing exam-standard essay answers.

The Verse Higher Level Poetry Skills Portfolio contains:

• mind maps
• word banks
• biography tasks
• theme, language and imagery note templates
• paragraph-writing tasks
• dedicated space for writing sample essays.