A Wider View (AQA GCSE English Literature)

'A Wider View'

Each poetry anthology at GCSE contains 15 poems, and in your exam question you will be given one poem – printed in full – and asked to compare this printed poem to another. As this is a closed-book exam, you will not have access to the second poem, so you will have to know it from memory. Fifteen poems is a lot to revise. However, understanding four things will enable you to produce a top-grade response:

• The meaning of the poem

• The ideas and messages of the poet 

• How the poet conveys these ideas through their methods

• How these ideas compare and contrast with the ideas of other poets in the anthology

Below is a guide to Seni Seneviratne’s poem 'A Wider View', from the Worlds and Lives anthology. It includes:

• Overview: a breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations

• Writer’s methods: an exploration of the poet’s techniques and methods

• Context: an exploration of the context of the poem, relevant to its themes

• What to compare it to: ideas about which poems to compare it to in the exam

Overview

In order to answer an essay question on any poem it is vital that you understand what it is about. This section includes:

• The poem in a nutshell

• A “translation” of the poem, section-by-section

• A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Seni Seneviratne’s intention and message

'A Wider View' in a nutshell

“A Wider View”, written by Seni Seneviratne, is a nostalgic  poem in which a speaker considers the perspective of a great-great-grandparent living in 19th-century working-class Leeds. The poem explores the bonds of heritage and cultural identity that move beyond time and place. 

'A Wider View' breakdown

Lines 1–3

“From the backyard of his back-to-back,

my great-great-grandad searched for spaces

in the smoke-filled sky to stack his dreams,”

Translation

• The poem describes a type of Victorian terraced house, called a “back-to-back” 

• The narrator introduces the poem’s subject, their great-great-grandfather

• The city where he lives is described as polluted and with little free space  

Seneviratne’s intention

• The first lines of Seneviratne’s poem introduce the idea of reflection and longing  

• The lines highlight the industrialisation of the city, and describe it as restrictive and cramped:

  • The poet implies a lack of freedom in the city  

Line 4–5

“high enough above the cholera to keep them

and his newborn safe from harm.”

Translation

• These lines tell us that the narrator’s distant relative had to keep his family safe from common but serious illnesses such as cholera

Seneviratne’s intention

• Seneviratne highlights the man’s care for his family as well as the dangers they face

• The lines imply poor social conditions in the city, making survival difficult

Lines 6–8

“In eighteen sixty-nine, eyes dry with dust

from twelve hours combing flax beneath

the conicals of light in Marshall’s Temple Mill,”

Translation

• The poem mentions the year, 1869, and the factory work of the Industrial Revolution 

• The poet refers to long and uncomfortable working hours “combing flax ” in a textile mill:

  • “Marshall’s Temple Mill” is a former flax factory in Leeds, begun in 1791 by an industrial pioneer, John Marshall

• The textile mill was notorious for its poor working conditions, employing young children and the elderly, with long working hours

Seneviratne’s intention

• Here, the poet draws attention to the limited rights of the workers

• The descriptions allude to the dark and dusty conditions in the factory

• By mentioning a specific factory, the poet creates a sense of familiarity and authenticity

Lines 9–10

“he took the long way home because

he craved the comfort of a wider view.” 

Translation 

• The narrator explains how their great-great-grandfather walked the “long way home”, suggesting he needed to spend time alone outside of the busy, inner city streets

• The narrator explains that he “craved” more space, a “wider view” of the city

Seneviratne’s intention

• Seneviratne describes the man’s need for space and solitude

• The emotive words “craved” and “comfort” suggest the man is constrained in some way and needs freedom 

Lines 11–13

“As he passed the panelled gates of Tower Works,

the tall octagonal crown of Harding’s chimney

drew his sights beyond the limits of his working life”

Translation 

• The man’s journey home takes him past historical buildings in the city

• The poet describes the buildings as imposing (“tall” and “panelled”) and stately (“crown”)

• These buildings seem to inspire the speaker’s imagination away from his mundane life in the factory

Seneviratne’s intention

• Seneviratne names famous landmarks in Leeds to draw attention to the history of the city

• The “panelled gates” add to the feeling of entrapment felt by the speaker

• The reference to the “octagonal crown” suggests the factory’s power and importance in the city

Lines 14–15

“drowned the din of engines, looms and shuttles

with imagined peals of ringing bells.”

Translation 

• By listing the machines in the factory, the poet implies the noise (the “din”)

• But the speaker is able to drown out the noise with his imagination

Seneviratne’s intention

• Seneviratne draws attention to the noise of the factories, which the man seeks to escape

• The buildings the man sees on the walk home, however, help him forget his work:

  • Seneviratne therefore conveys the power of personal reflection

Lines 16–17

“Today, my footsteps echo in the sodium gloom

of Neville Street’s Dark Arches and the red-brick vaults”

Translation 

• The poet shifts to the present tense and a first-person perspective 

• The historical arches over the station in Leeds are mentioned 

Seneviratne’s intention

• Seneviratne brings the past and the present together as the narrator walks in the same place as they imagine their distant relative walked

Lines 18–19

“begin to moan as time, collapsing in the River Aire,

sweeps me out to meet him on the Wharf.”

Translation 

• The narrator personifies the brick vaults that moan as time “collapses”

• These lines appear to describe a metaphysical blending of time and place

• The narrator is swept into the past to meet their great-great-grandfather

Seneviratne’s intention

• Seneviratne presents the close bonds of heritage

• The narrator, standing in the same place as they imagine their ancestors stood, feels a close connection with the past

• This is made more realistic by grounding the image in a particular place

Lines 20–21

“We stand now, timeless in the flux of time, anchored

only by the axis of our gaze - a ventilation shaft”

Translation 

• The poet changes perspective to the first-person plural “we” to depict the meeting between the narrator and their ancestor 

• Seneviratne’s narrator appears to find time stopped in the axis of the building’s ventilation shaft 

Seneviratne’s intention

• Seneviratne’s theme of heritage is shown as a never-ending bond between family members

• The buildings, also timeless, are the stimulus for this reflection  

• The view becomes a connection between the generations who see the same thing

Lines 22–24

“with gilded tiles, and Giotto’s geometric lines-

while the curve of past and future generations

arcs between us.”

Translation 

• These lines refer back to the imagined “ringing bells” the great-great-grandfather hears when he passes Tower Works:

  • “Giotto’s geometric lines” refers to a famous bell tower in Italy 

• Here, the narrator explains how the majesty and history of the buildings connect past and present generations

Seneviratne’s intention

• Seneviratne ends the poem closing the distance between the narrator and their ancestry

• Physical belonging is linked to emotional belonging

• The poet describes how individuals can find connections across time and place through personal reflection

Writer’s methods

Although this section is organised into three separate sections – form, structure and language – it is always best to move from what the poet is presenting (the techniques they use; the overall form of the poem; what comes at the beginning, middle and end of a poem) to how and why they have made the choices they have, especially in relation to the theme or message. 

Focusing on the poet’s overarching ideas and patterns of language, rather than individual poetic techniques, will gain you more marks. Crucially, in the below sections, all analysis is arranged by theme, and includes Seni Seneviratne’s intentions behind her choices in terms of:

• Form

• Structure

• Language

Form

The poem is made up of five unrhymed, but mostly regular, stanzas. The first-person narrator takes readers on a narrative journey that describes the life of an ancestor in Victorian England. 

Structure

The poet’s ideas about time and identity may be reflected in the rhythm created by free verse. This contributes to the narrative style of the poem as the narrator describes a city across time. 

Language

Seneviratne’s poem describes a city across time, focusing on industrialised Leeds, a place that connects her with her ancestry. 

Context

The mark scheme rewards contextual connections rather than reference to factual information. In this case, examiners are not looking for random biographical information about Seni Seneviratne that is unrelated to the ideas in 'A Wider View'. Instead, the best responses consider the way the poem is informed by the context in which it was written. The best way to understand context is as the ideas and perspectives explored by Seneviratne in the poem that relate to her world and life. This section has therefore been divided into two relevant themes that Seneviratne explores:

• Home and heritage

• Relationships with the world 

Home and heritage  

• Seni Seneviratne was born in Leeds, England, but is of Sri Lankan heritage

• The influence of her cultural identity is evident in much of her poetry:

  • Her work was first published alongside the work of other women of South Asian heritage

  • In the poem she refers to ancestors who “crave the comfort” of a “wider view”:

    • Perhaps this alludes to the rural landscape of Sri Lanka compared to urban Leeds

    • By describing a distant relative’s life, she offers their perspective and a “wider view”

• 'A Wider View' was written as part of a commission for Leeds Architecture Week:

  • Seneviratne describes the city of Leeds in the poem, drawing attention to historical buildings and their beautiful designs 

  • The poem describes the Tower Works steel factory as majestic with a “tall octagonal crown” 

  • The speaker draws comparisons with renaissance architecture:

    • Seneviratne describes “gilded tiles” and “Giotto’s geometric lines”

    • This, Seneviratne has said, was influenced by her imaginings of her great-great-grandfather’s commute through Florence on his travels

    • She refers to a building in Italy called Giotto’s Bell Tower and the “peals of ringing bells”

• Writing about an ancestor's life around the time of the Industrial Revolution raises attention to the city’s origins:

  • The poem also refers a building that supports the railway in Leeds, “Dark Arches”

  • This structure was built in 1869 and led to an increase in crime, perhaps implied by the description of “sodium gloom”:

    • The poem mentions this year specifically 

  • The poem describes the noise of the mills where the people’s eyes were “dry with dust” 

  • The relative seeks escape in imagination, so the “din” of “engines, looms, and shuttles” are “drowned” with the noise of bells

Relationships with the world  

• Seni Seneviratne is a writer, poet, performer, singer and creative artist

• She considers herself a political activist; she protested against the Vietnam War, fights for gender equality, and writes poetry in response to social issues 

• Her work has won many awards and she is commended for her writing on themes related to people’s lives and connections:

  • In her poem, Seneviratne imagines an ancestor’s desire to escape the polluted and disease-ridden environment of an industrialised city

  • They describe their ancestor’s journey home from work in Victorian Leeds

• The poem considers the insignificance of time regarding buildings and relationships:

  • The poem explores metaphysical ideas like the collapsing of time

  • The speaker is able to meet their great-great-grandfather in the “axis” as they cross the “arcs between us”

• The poem raises questions regarding the impact of urbanisation on individuals’ lives:

  • The poem refers to unsanitary living conditions and outbreaks of diseases such as cholera

  • Her great-great-grandfather “searched for spaces” that were “safe from harm”

What to compare it to

The essay you are required to write in your exam is a comparison of the ideas and themes explored in two of your anthology poems. It is therefore essential that you revise the poems together, in pairs, to understand how each poet presents ideas about worlds and lives in comparison to other poets in the anthology. Given that 'A Wider View' explores the ideas of relationships between human beings and their worlds, the following comparisons are the most appropriate:

• 'A Wider View' and 'In a London Drawing Room'

• 'A Wider View' and 'A Portable Paradise'

• 'A Wider View' and 'Like an Heiress'

For each pair of poems, you will find:

• The comparison in a nutshell

• Similarities between the ideas presented in each poem

• Differences between the ideas presented in each poem

• Evidence and analysis of these similarities and differences

'A Wider View' and 'In a London Drawing Room' 

Comparison in a nutshell:

Both Seni Seneviratne’s 'A Wider View' and George Eliot’s 'In a London Drawing Room' employ speakers who explore their feelings about their environment. However, while Seneviratne’s poem celebrates the life and history of a city, Eliot describes a joyless urban environment. 

Similarities:

 Differences:

'A Wider View' and 'A Portable Paradise'

Comparison in a nutshell:

This is an effective comparative choice to explore poems which portray individuals’ responses to their worlds and comment on uneasy relationships within them. However, while Seni Seneviratne depicts a speaker who finds comfort in a city’s buildings, Roger Robinson shows an individual who finds comfort in the natural world.

Similarities:

 Differences:

'A Wider View' and 'Like an Heiress'

Comparison in a nutshell:

Both Seni Seneviratne’s 'A Wider View' and Grace Nichols’ 'Like an Heiress' explore connections between a speaker and their heritage, brought about by observations of their environment. While Seneviratne’s free verse celebrates a city’s culture, Nichols’ sonnet criticises a neglectful attitude to the natural world.

Similarities:

Differences: