One Flesh (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)

Theme

Evidence

Poet's intention

Loss and distance

The poem presents a first-person speaker reflecting on a relationship that is not their own:

• The speaker describes a couple: “He with a book” and “She like a girl”

Jennings describes the romantic relationship from a detached perspective:

• She conveys the couple’s separation by referring to them one at a time, and as individuals

The poem is made up of three regular stanzas to convey their constancy

The poem’s form creates a sense of regularity and routine to describe the established relationship 

The poem ends without resolution:

• The speaker asks a question about long, familiar relationships

Jennings's poem ends with a confused speaker who appears reluctant to accept the idea that passion will inevitably grow “cold”

Jennings explores the lack of intimacy in long-lasting romantic relationships through an uneasy speaker 

Theme

Evidence

Poet's intention

Complex love

The poem uses iambic pentameter to create a calm rhythm

The poem’s regular rhythm contributes to the idea of reliability in the relationship

The rhyme scheme is regular in the first two stanzas:

• Rhyming couplets like  “the book he holds unread,/Her eyes fixed on the shadows overhead” show the couple’s routine 

The poet presents the couple’s habits as monotonous and lacking excitement 

Jennings, though, conveys the speaker’s concern and hints at problems:

• Caesurae are used throughout the poem to imply imbalance

The poet alludes to distance in the parent’s relationship and the speaker’s own uneasy response

The last two lines break the rhyme scheme with “mother” and “cold” to show the speaker’s emotions : 

• This is emphasised with a rhetorical question

The speaker conveys their confusion about the nature of their parent’s marriage

Jennings conveys the speaker’s dismay at the way the familiarity and routine in their parent’s marriage has affected their intimacy

Theme

Evidence

Poet's intention

Romantic relationships 

The title refers to a verse in the Bible that describes marriage: 

• The line, “they shall be one flesh” from Genesis 2:24, suggests that when  two people marry, they become one 

Jennings's poem explores the close bond of marriage and draws attention to its traditional values

Jennings contrasts the idea of “passion” and “fire” with “cool” and “cold” to signify the change in the couple’s intimacy:

• A simile, “Tossed up like  flotsam” perhaps implies that this process is like  decay

The poem explores how the intensity of love diminishes over time

Repetition of the word “strangely” to describe the couple as “apart” and “together” implies the relationship is in some ways unnatural 

Jennings's speaker appears uneasy about the surprising distance in their parents’ marriage

The speaker describes time as a “feather/Touching them gently” to describe the ageing process 

While the poem examines the lack of intimacy in a marriage, Jennings’s use of sensual language recalls their former love 

Jennings explores the concept of marriage and the inevitable yet barely perceptible  changes that come with ageing and long relationships

Topic sentence

Both poems describe intimate yet uncomfortable moments in a romantic relationship 

Evidence and analysis

'One Flesh'

'1st Date – She & 1st Date – He’

Jennings illustrates how a couple have grown apart in a marriage:

• They are “each in a separate bed”

Cope presents the thoughts of a nervous couple on a date unable to voice their private feelings:

• The setting of Cope’s poem is a “half-dark” classical music concert, perhaps suggesting hidden elements in the relationship 

Jennings's speaker describes the couple one at a time to highlight their separation: “He with a book” and “She like a girl”:

• Jennings creates a sense of tension in the silence that is “like a thread to hold”

Cope’s female and male speaker observe each other secretly: “his face it’s a picture/Of rapt concentration”:

• Unspoken tension is conveyed in, “So we haven’t had much time for talking/And I’m a bit nervous”

In Jennings's poem the couple show little interest in each other, yet the poet hints at repressed desire:

• His book is held “unread” and her “eyes fixed on the shadows”

• This is juxtaposed with a simile that implies strong emotions: “like a confession/Of having little feeling – or too much” 

Cope presents parallel first-person speakers who hide their desires from each other:

• The female speaker thinks “He is totally into this music/And quite undistracted by me” 

• While the male speaker thinks “I mustn't appear too besotted./Perhaps she is out of my league”

The poets both examine barriers in romantic relationships that are a result of repressed feelings

Topic sentence

Both poets explore the idea of idealised love

Evidence and analysis

'One Flesh'

'1st Date – She & 1st Date – He’

Jennings refers to traditional attitudes to marriage, that it is a “destination/For which” the couple’s “whole lives were a preparation”:

• The poem challenges religious values that perceive a married couple as “One Flesh”

• The poem suggests that, instead, it leads to “Chastity” and lack of intimacy

Cope depicts how the lovers’ attempts to appear sophisticated lead to divisions between them: 

• The female speaker hopes her “brow was acceptably high”

• They both try to think of something “clever to say” instead of getting to know each other 

Jennings's speaker describes the couple’s bedtime routine with a regular rhythm to allude to the relationship’s traditional nature:

• Yet Jennings suggests it is awkward: “it is as if they wait/Some new event”

Similarly, Cope’s poem presents speakers who are awkward, yet polite:

• The poem’s regular abcb rhyme scheme creates a constant rhythm

• The male thinks about the “traffic” that “was dreadful this evening”

Jennings ends the poem with a rhetorical question that conveys the speaker’s confusion at the distant relationship 

Cope’s ironic poem ends unresolved:

• The male speaker is left trying to think of something to say

• They are left trying to impress each other 

Both poets depict individuals who feel powerless in love or relationships

Topic sentence

While Jennings's poem is a melancholic reflection on dying passion, Cope presents a comedic insight into a flirtatious first date

Evidence and analysis

'One Flesh'

‘1st Date – She & 1st Date – He’

Jennings employs iambic pentameter to create a steady rhythm to reflect the stagnant yet reliable marriage

Cope gives a portrayal of two individuals nervously starting a relationship:

• Iambic tetrameter conveys excitement and nervousness 

Jennings's old, married couple do not speak to each other:

• Instead the speaker (their child) expresses earnest concern at the ageing process: “Do they know they’re old”

Cope portrays the couple’s troubled thoughts:

• The female speaker says “I couldn’t care less what they play”

• The male speaker asks “Where are we?” 

Jennings evokes a dark mood describing the couple’s love as “Tossed up like flotsam”:

• Caesurae highlight the couple’s divisions, “How cool they lie. They hardly ever touch”

Cope’s poem is comedic as it mocks the confused feelings that come from the couple’s desire:

• The male speaker “mustn’t appear too besotted”

• He is intrigued by her “neckline” 

While both poems draw attention to distances in relationships, Jennings's poem expresses disillusionment while Cope’s is lighthearted 

Topic sentence

Both poems portray distance in loving relationships 

Evidence and analysis

'One Flesh'

'Neutral Tones'

While the couple in Jennings's poem are married, they are each in a “separate bed” and “Lying apart”

Similarly, Hardy describes two lovers in a long relationship who are together at a lake, yet unable to find intimacy

Jennings uses a caesura to highlight the divisions between the couple, such as in, “How cool they lie. They hardly ever touch”:

• Imbalance is implied in, “Of having little feeling - or too much”

In Hardy’s poem, too, the speaker describes an imbalanced relationship:

• The lover’s eyes “rove/Over tedious riddles of years ago”

• The half-rhyme conveys a lack of harmony 

Enjambment creates a suspenseful mood and hints at lack of resolution: “it is as if they wait/Some new event:”

Hardy employs a simile and ellipsis to suggest love eludes the speaker: “Like an ominous bird a-wing…”

• Their love is flying away

The poems both portray the sense of isolation that comes from a lack of intimacy in a loving relationship 

Topic sentence

Both poems explore feelings of powerlessness in romantic relationships

Evidence and analysis

‘One Flesh’

'Neutral Tones'

Jennings's first-person speaker expresses concern and surprise at the relationship:

• Repetition highlights this in the line “Strangely apart, yet strangely close together”

Hardy’s poem similarly portrays a first-person speaker’s concern: 

• An oxymoron statement describes the love as “Alive enough to have strength to die”

Jennings uses contrasting diction to show the change in the relationship:

• Words like “passion” and “fire” oppose “cool” and “cold”

• She describes ageing with sensory imagery, comparing it to “a feather/Touching them gently”

Hardy, too, employs imagery that conveys the couple’s vulnerability in the face of change: 

• Natural imagery alludes to dying: “a few leaves lay on the starving sod” that had “fallen from an ash, and were gray”

Religious imagery in Jennings's poem alludes to society’s attitude to love, which the couple have failed to fulfil:

• Instead of being “One Flesh” as dictated in the bible, they face “Chastity”

Hardy’s poem uses religious imagery in a similar way: 

• It refers to a “God-curst sun” under which the couple have been punished or chided (“chidden”)

• It suggests “love deceives”

The poets present speakers who are frustrated in their relationships because of unresolved problems, leading to disillusionment 

Topic sentence

While Jennings's poem offers an outside perspective on marriage, Hardy’s poem is a personal address to a loved one

Evidence and analysis

‘One Flesh’

'Neutral Tones'

The speaker in Jennings's poem describes their parents’ marriage: 

• The speaker says “These two who are my father and my mother/Whose fire from which I came” 

In contrast, Hardy’s poem is a direct address: 

• The speaker says “Your eyes on me” and “some words played between us”

Jennings's couple do not express their feelings: 

• Instead, the book he “holds” is “unread” and “Her eyes fixed on the shadows”

Hardy’s poem expresses the couple’s strong emotions, like a smile that is the “deadest thing” and “a grin of bitterness”

Jennings's poem describes isolation, such as in the line, “All men elsewhere”

The poem is personal and intimate: 

• The speaker laments, “Your face”

Jennings describes the quiet acceptance of a stagnant marriage, while Hardy’s poem is an emotional depiction of miscommunication in a relationship 

Topic sentence

Both poems portray loving relationships that offer comfort 

Evidence and analysis

‘One Flesh’

‘The Manhunt’

Jennings describes a couple in bed at night: 

• Sensory imagery creates an intimate mood, such as “How cool they lie” and “Touching them gently”

• Alliteration highlights the “light on late”

Armitage also portrays intimate moments in a relationship: 

• Repetitive couplets describe the speaker’s gentle touch

• Alliteration creates a poignant tone in “parachute” and “punctured”

Jennings conveys a sense of calm constancy in the steady iambic pentameter and regular rhyme scheme 

Armitage implies patient tenderness in the relationship with a pattern of verbs:

• The speaker would “explore” and “attend” to the loved one

• This is repeated throughout to suggest steadfast love

In ‘One Flesh’, sparse but emotive language conveys the strength of the bond when they touch: “Of having little feeling – or too much.”

Emotive language in ‘The Manhunt’ links the physical to emotional intimacy:

• The speaker can “feel the hurt” of their “grazed heart”

The poems both describe intimate and long-lasting romantic relationships 

Topic sentence

Both poems offer perspectives on distance in romantic relationships 

Evidence and analysis

‘One Flesh’

'The Manhunt'

In Jennings's poem, the relationship has been destabilised:

• Vivid imagery and alliteration imply chaos (“Tossed up like  flotsam”)

• The couple are “Lying apart now”

Similarly, Armitage’s speaker suggests a change in the relationship:

• Anaphora stresses the ending of passion: “After the first phase,/after passionate nights”

Jennings hints at a sense of isolation in the relationship: 

• Detachment is suggested in lines like “Her eyes fixed on the shadows overhead”

Similarly, Armitage uses metaphorical imagery to convey barriers in the relationship, such as a “frozen river” and a “fractured rudder”

Both poets present the complexities of love with tender reflections 

Topic sentence

While Jennings writes about a love that is fading, Armitage portrays a relationship that attempts to bridge the emotional distance 

Evidence and analysis

‘One Flesh’

'The Manhunt'

The relationship in Jennings's poem is described as fragile, like a “thread” or a “feather”

On the other hand, Armitage repeats the phrase “only then” to show an urgent need to regain intimacy:

• Indeed, the poem’s title implies a dedicated search

Jennings's poem is written about the speaker’s parents:

• The speaker says “They hardly ever touch”

In contrast, Armitage’s poem presents a steady and determined first-person speaker: “Then I widened the search,/traced the scarring back to its source”

‘One Flesh’ ends with a rhetorical question and use of contrast: 

• This suggests a lack of resolution for the estranged couple: “Whose fire from which I came, has now grown cold?”

Armitage closes his poem on a hopeful note with the speaker’s enthusiastic and emphatic, “Then, and only then, did I come close.”

Jennings's poem offers little hope for the marriage, while Armitage’s poem offers hope that a lost love will be regained