Returning to Nostalgia, if we look at the second stanza, we see that nostalgia is conveyed in a different manner – “It was just given a name”. This ‘name’ refers to nostalgia itself, previously described as an emotion but now just a word that can be talked about. This links to “Hearing tell of it” – this tells of nostalgia being acknowledged but not felt – these are the mercenaries who ‘stayed put’, which truly expresses the sheer importance that journey necessitates with the emotion of nostalgia – the pain can be recognised by those who have not travelled and how it would affect them but only the ‘Early mercenaries’ described in the previous stanza actually understand and suffer the pain nostalgia has brought upon them due to the journey they have undertaken.
In Long Songs in Age, we notice a difference to that of Nostalgia, where no physical journey is taken however the feeling of nostalgia is still evidently present. As described earlier on, the actual prompting factor for nostalgia are the ‘songs’ which, we are led to believe, a widowed woman has rediscovered after having left them untouched for many years and then goes onto reminiscing about her past. This is highlighted in “Relearning how each frank submissive chord // Had ushered in”. This expresses the woman listening to the songs intently. Attributes of season are also used to express remembrance of youth – “Spread out like a spring-woken tree, wherein // That hidden freshness, sung”. This is comparable to that in Nostalgia where one early mercenary returns home in spring. The reasoning behind these uses of ‘spring’ is likely to be due to it being the season of revival and almost acts as pathetic fallacy where human feelings and emotions are attributed to inanimate natural objects, in this case the season of spring.
If we return again to Nostalgia, it is important to reiterate the literal meaning of nostalgia, meaning to suffer pain when returning. The way this is expressed in this poem is by the use of songs to remember and return, emotionally, to the past. The pain in this case however, is not that of missing the feeling of love but love itself never having ever been present in her past and how it never will be – “It had not done so then, and could not now”. This line evokes from the reader a sense of sadness for the woman as she attempts to discover love from her past, unknowing that these attempts will be perpetually unsuccessful.
The style of ending with the inevitable effects of time is strongly alike in Nostalgia. As mentioned above, we understood an early mercenary returning home. Digging deeper, we can notice how time has had a silent yet monumental affect. This is expressed through the repetition of the word ‘same’ where the surroundings are described as the ‘same street’, ‘same sign’ and ‘same bell’ which would at first seem to offer a sense of relief to the mercenary, however, the final line “And everything changed” provides a sense of how the journey and progression of time has changed unknowingly to the mercenary. An example of irony is also present here as the previously mentioned illness attributed to nostalgia is seemingly attempted to be treated by the mercenary who returns, just to realise the effects that time entails with it are incurable.
The next comparison I am going to make will be between Captain of the 1964 Team by Duffy and MCMXIV by Larkin and how nostalgia in these poems provides a loss of innocence.
Looking at the first title, we notice the use of the date ‘1964’. This is an important attribute as time plays a major factor in providing nostalgia. Studying the title as a whole, we see that it will be what forms the base of what the poem will be written about, in this case being about a television show where two groups of school students compete against each other in a quiz.
Studying the second title, we immediately notice the similarity of a date being apparent; in this case exclusively on its own. This provides a far more explicit and consequently importance sense that time will entail. Expanding further, a major note to point out is the use of roman numerals in exchange for numbers. This is an interesting technique used by Larkin, who actually had this poem published in 1960; years later than roman numerals were typically used. This leads to the reasoning being focused on the context of the poem being on war and also the period of time the poem is set: the Edwardian era.
Focusing on Captain of the 1964 Team in greater detail now, we immediately notice how Duffy employs graphology in order to convey certain lexis, in this case, song lyrics which act as an object for reminiscing. The use of this is important in representing the speaker’s life in his youth and the important influence music had upon him.
Duffy cleverly exploits many dynamic verbs such as ‘fizzing’, ‘gargling’ and ‘blew’. These verbs allow for the nostalgic experience as the physical actions elicit images of the past in the reader’s mind. Furthermore, the nature of these verbs suggest connotations of promise and optimism in life, adding to the speaker’s loss of innocence as they grow up and realise the passing of time has left them with an almost cynical persona as they comprehend that the attributes and facts they once learned and memorised with great commitment are now of no real importance.
The use of dynamic verbs as mentioned above are similar to that in MCMXIV, where the narrator describes a scene where “Those long uneven lines // Standing as patiently” and also ‘grinning’. The use of these verbs express the powerful effect a physical action has upon possibly providing a sense of nostalgia in the future. A disparity to note is the difference of connotations which the verbs convey. In Captain of the 1964 Team, the verbs represent a sense of speed and motion, where the speaker’s youth was always one full of energy. This sense of happiness of course, is ended with the harsh reality that nostalgia brings about, in this case the feeling of disappointment. In contrast, the use of verbs in MCMXIV, signify a more peaceful and gentle way of life, however the end result of a pain through nostalgia is still present, in this case being death.
Returning to Captain of the 1964 Team, we see somewhat sexual tones underlay the poem – “convent girls” and “lips as sore as a two-hour snog” are the primary example of this. These tones however, may not be described so much through the speaker’s personal experience as through teenage fantasy, echoing the loss of innocence and the bitter tone of the speaker.
The third and final comparison I am going to make will be between Before You Were Mine by Duffy and Afternoons by Larkin and how nostalgia in these poems provides a loss of youth.
If we first look at the titles, we see how, similar to that of the previous poems, the object of time is again present in both. Before You Were Mine brings about the idea of reminiscing the past, before the person only known as the pronoun ‘You’ came into the speaker’s life. With Afternoons, we get a far more accurately pinpointed time frame, in specifics the later hours of the day. The pluralisation of the word ‘Afternoons’ leads us to believe the nostalgia will be described through an alteration of events that occur at this specific time over a period of years.
Focusing on Before You Were Mine, we immediately see the aspect of progressing time – “I’m ten years away from the corner you laugh on”. This again expresses the way in which physical actions attribute to nostalgia, in this case, the verb ‘laugh’.
With the loss of youth, this is conveyed by the technique of disjointed chronology through the stanzas. Duffy uses this technique to allow for the juxtaposition of the time before the speaker was born with the time after. This comparison is emphasised by the use of verbs where an indication of the Mother’s happiness is present before the speaker was born, expressed by the dynamic verb ‘dance’, giving connotations of life and excitement. On the other end of the scale, the verb ‘yell’ is used to express a sense of anger and unhappiness, this time after the speaker was born.
A clever technique used by Duffy is synesthesia, evidenced by “clear as scent”. This allows for a vivid, evocative sense to be used in order to allow the speaker to associate a certain person and place.
Moving onto Afternoons, we realise the important factor that involves the sense of nostalgia is that of ‘courting-places’. This acts as the prompting factor where the parents realise and reminisce the times they once courted and how it has remained in the same location, and for the same purpose, evidenced by “That are still courting-places”, however the inevitability of time has resulted in their realisation that their youth has been lost; expressed by “(But the lovers are all in school)”. This indicates how, whilst the place they remember has stayed the same, time has passed and their courting days are over.
A clever technique utilized by Larkin is that used in “their courting places”, where the possessive determiner ‘their’ is employed. This presents the connotations of the parents refusing to let go of their youth.
Seasons are yet again used in a fitting way to represent nostalgia. In Afternoons, summer is used to express almost the end of an era; how rebirth has ended and the happiness fades: “Summer is fading”. The adverb ‘fading’ here expresses the literal sense of the sun going in and so the light fades. A more deceptive sense however, is that of parents happiness fading. In the final stanza, “Unripe acorns” follow the seasonal attributes, this time as a metaphor for the children and how they are still growing. This explicitly emphasises the loss of youth on the parent’s behalf.
In conclusion, I have discovered that both poet’s ideologies of life and the emotion of nostalgia are characteristically different as they exploit several techniques in portraying this particular theme.
Larkin portrays nostalgia in an explicitly cynical manner, where he focuses and emphasises the pain of those experiencing the nostalgia to be something that they will never recover from and also of their own realisation that time has had on their lives and that the past can never be relived. Duffy’s approach towards nostalgia is more pessimistic as she conveys the emotion of happiness that those experiencing nostalgia once had in the past. Larkin is seen to overlook these positive emotions however, leading to a far more harsh portrayal of nostalgia and one-sided emotion of and stronger sense of pain.
Where both poets are alike is in the way they use lexis to instigate the feeling of nostalgia, most noticeably dynamic verbs. Whilst they both utilize this technique, the emotions the verbs depict are typically conflicting. Larkin portrays a far quieter and stationary way of life, consequently leading to a deeper and stronger nostalgic pain as those experiencing the nostalgia realise their lives have been wasted. Duffy however, portrays a dynamic and energetic way of life, resulting in a less painful feeling of nostalgia as they reminisce about moments of happiness from their past.
