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O-LevelLiterature in EnglishPoetry2010/12 · Oct/Nov 2016 · Q125 Marks

Read these poems, and then answer the question that follows them: 'I Look Into My Glass' I look into my glass, And view my wasting skin, And say, 'Would God it came to pass My heart had shrunk as thin!' For then, I, undistrest By hearts grown cold to me, Could lonely wait my endless rest With equanimity. But Time, to make me grieve, Part steals, lets part abide; And shakes this fragile frame at eve With throbbings of noontide. Nobody Comes Tree-leaves labour up and down, And through them the fainting light Succumbs to the crawl of night. Outside in the road the telegraph wire To the town from the darkening land Intones to travellers like a spectral lyre Swept by a spectral hand. A car comes up, with lamps full-glare, That flash upon a tree: It has nothing to do with me, And whangs along in a world of its own, Leaving a blacker air; And mute by the gate I stand again alone, And nobody pulls up there.

  1. (a)How does Hardy movingly convey the feelings of the speakers in 'I Look Into My Glass' and Nobody Comes?[25]

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2016). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

  1. [25-23] Sustains personal engagement with task and text; sustains a critical understanding of the text showing individuality and insight; responds sensitively and in detail to the way the writer achieves effects; incorporates well-selected reference to the text skilfully and with flair.

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About this question

Topic
Poetry, O-Level Literature in English (syllabus 2010). Structured question, 25 marks.
Source
O-Level Literature in English, Oct/Nov 2016 Paper 1 Variant 2, question 1.

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