Oxford Cambridge and RSA
June 2026 – Afternoon
A Level English Language and Literature (EMC)
H474/02 The language of poetry and plays
Time allowed: 2 hours
You must have:
• the OCR 12-page Answer Booklet
INSTRUCTIONS
• Use black ink.
• Write your answer to each question in the Answer Booklet. The question numbers must be
clearly shown.
• Fill in the boxes on the front of the Answer Booklet.
• Answer one question in Section A and one in Section B.
INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 64.
• The marks for each question are shown in brackets [ ].
• This document has 20 pages.
ADVICE
• Read each question carefully before you start your answer.
OCR A Level English Language and Literature (EMC) The
language of poetry and plays (H474/02) Question Paper And Mark
Scheme
, 2
Section A
Poetry: poetic and stylistic analysis
William Blake Emily
Dickinson Malika
Booker Fatima
Asghar Carol Ann
Duffy
Jacob Sam-La Rose
Answer one question from this section.
You should spend about one hour on this section.
1 William Blake
Explore how Blake presents attitudes towards Christian beliefs in ‘The Divine Image (I)’ and make
connections with one or two other poems from your collection.
You should consider Blake’s use of poetic and stylistic techniques and significant literary or other relevant
contexts.
[32]
The Divine Image
To Mercy Pity Peace and Love, All
pray in their distress:
And to these virtues of delight
Return their thankfulness.
For Mercy Pity Peace and Love, Is
God our father dear,
And Mercy Pity Peace and Love, Is
Man his child and care.
For Mercy has a human heart Pity, a
human face:
And Love, the human form divine, And
Peace, the human dress.
Then every man of every clime,
That prays in his distress, Prays to
the human form divine Love
Mercy Pity Peace.
And all must love the human form, In
heathen, turk or jew.
Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell
There God is dwelling too.
© OCR 2025 H474/02 Jun25
, 3
2 Emily Dickinson
Explore how Dickinson presents ideas created by a memorable sight in ‘I Like to See it Lap the Miles’ and
make connections with one or two other poems from your collection.
You should consider Dickinson’s use of poetic and stylistic techniques and significant literary or other
relevant contexts.
[32]
I like to see it lap the Miles - And
lick the Valleys up -
And stop to feed itself at Tanks -
And then - prodigious step
Around a Pile of Mountains -
And supercilious peer
In Shanties - by the Ribs of Roads - And
then a Quarry pare
To fit its sides
And crawl between
Complaining all the while In
horrid - hooting stanza -
Then chase itself down Hill -
And neigh like Boanerges - Then
- punctual as a Star Stop - docile
and omnipotent At its own
stable door -
© OCR 2025 H474/02 Jun25 Turn over
, 4
3 Malika Booker
Explore how Booker presents ideas about food and family relationships in ‘Brixton Market’ and make
connections with one or two other poems from your collection.
You should consider Booker’s use of poetic and stylistic techniques and significant literary or other
relevant contexts.
[32]
Brixton Market
I would stand at market stalls and
watch her take days to pick, how
she would test the okra, bending
their tips, placing only
the ones that snapped into a brown paper bag; the
way she scrutinised the yam,
feeling and weighing it in her palm;
plantains picked one by one
like an artist selecting her tools.
Flawed produce would be haggled to
the last, and sometimes
she would turn her back and walk to
make her point and get her way.
I pulled that shopping trolley into
the stench of meat shops,
waiting as she pointed to red slabs she
wanted. How many times would she
point and weigh
to change her mind!
I would stare at the goose-bumped
boiling chicken hanging from ceiling, the
cow-foot, and severed pig tails.
I tried to hold my breath at the fish stall as
she chose the kippers, and we waited for the
snapper to be cleaned.
At Kwik Save, each can of baked beans was
vetted for dents, each egg delicately lifted,
searched for cracks.
I would learn that this is how my grandmother taught
her, kneeling in the bush uprooting dasheen on the
family land. She, too, hawk-eyed,
tested each provision to know
what was ripe, ready and good to cook.
© OCR 2025 H474/02 Jun25
June 2026 – Afternoon
A Level English Language and Literature (EMC)
H474/02 The language of poetry and plays
Time allowed: 2 hours
You must have:
• the OCR 12-page Answer Booklet
INSTRUCTIONS
• Use black ink.
• Write your answer to each question in the Answer Booklet. The question numbers must be
clearly shown.
• Fill in the boxes on the front of the Answer Booklet.
• Answer one question in Section A and one in Section B.
INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 64.
• The marks for each question are shown in brackets [ ].
• This document has 20 pages.
ADVICE
• Read each question carefully before you start your answer.
OCR A Level English Language and Literature (EMC) The
language of poetry and plays (H474/02) Question Paper And Mark
Scheme
, 2
Section A
Poetry: poetic and stylistic analysis
William Blake Emily
Dickinson Malika
Booker Fatima
Asghar Carol Ann
Duffy
Jacob Sam-La Rose
Answer one question from this section.
You should spend about one hour on this section.
1 William Blake
Explore how Blake presents attitudes towards Christian beliefs in ‘The Divine Image (I)’ and make
connections with one or two other poems from your collection.
You should consider Blake’s use of poetic and stylistic techniques and significant literary or other relevant
contexts.
[32]
The Divine Image
To Mercy Pity Peace and Love, All
pray in their distress:
And to these virtues of delight
Return their thankfulness.
For Mercy Pity Peace and Love, Is
God our father dear,
And Mercy Pity Peace and Love, Is
Man his child and care.
For Mercy has a human heart Pity, a
human face:
And Love, the human form divine, And
Peace, the human dress.
Then every man of every clime,
That prays in his distress, Prays to
the human form divine Love
Mercy Pity Peace.
And all must love the human form, In
heathen, turk or jew.
Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell
There God is dwelling too.
© OCR 2025 H474/02 Jun25
, 3
2 Emily Dickinson
Explore how Dickinson presents ideas created by a memorable sight in ‘I Like to See it Lap the Miles’ and
make connections with one or two other poems from your collection.
You should consider Dickinson’s use of poetic and stylistic techniques and significant literary or other
relevant contexts.
[32]
I like to see it lap the Miles - And
lick the Valleys up -
And stop to feed itself at Tanks -
And then - prodigious step
Around a Pile of Mountains -
And supercilious peer
In Shanties - by the Ribs of Roads - And
then a Quarry pare
To fit its sides
And crawl between
Complaining all the while In
horrid - hooting stanza -
Then chase itself down Hill -
And neigh like Boanerges - Then
- punctual as a Star Stop - docile
and omnipotent At its own
stable door -
© OCR 2025 H474/02 Jun25 Turn over
, 4
3 Malika Booker
Explore how Booker presents ideas about food and family relationships in ‘Brixton Market’ and make
connections with one or two other poems from your collection.
You should consider Booker’s use of poetic and stylistic techniques and significant literary or other
relevant contexts.
[32]
Brixton Market
I would stand at market stalls and
watch her take days to pick, how
she would test the okra, bending
their tips, placing only
the ones that snapped into a brown paper bag; the
way she scrutinised the yam,
feeling and weighing it in her palm;
plantains picked one by one
like an artist selecting her tools.
Flawed produce would be haggled to
the last, and sometimes
she would turn her back and walk to
make her point and get her way.
I pulled that shopping trolley into
the stench of meat shops,
waiting as she pointed to red slabs she
wanted. How many times would she
point and weigh
to change her mind!
I would stare at the goose-bumped
boiling chicken hanging from ceiling, the
cow-foot, and severed pig tails.
I tried to hold my breath at the fish stall as
she chose the kippers, and we waited for the
snapper to be cleaned.
At Kwik Save, each can of baked beans was
vetted for dents, each egg delicately lifted,
searched for cracks.
I would learn that this is how my grandmother taught
her, kneeling in the bush uprooting dasheen on the
family land. She, too, hawk-eyed,
tested each provision to know
what was ripe, ready and good to cook.
© OCR 2025 H474/02 Jun25
