There is a strong resemblance, both visually and literally, between the two poems 'Cut Grass' and 'The Trees'.
There is a strong resemblance, both visually and literally, between the two poems 'Cut Grass' and 'The Trees'. The most palpable resemblance is that they are both written by the same poet: Philip Larkin. Both the poems portray life towards death. Visually, they both contain three verses, consisting of four lines each. Though they are not exactly the same in every aspect, there are some differentiating characteristics between the two poems. 'The Trees', is a small three stanza composition, rhyming 'ABBACDDC'. The opening line of 'The Trees' conveys to us that they have started their yearly cycle of germinating. 'The trees are coming into leaf'. The last line of the first verse is purposefully early. Philip Larkin uses the word 'grief'. He intended to use this word to intensify the theme. The noun grief means extreme sadness. ' Their greenness is a kind of grief'. In this line, Larkin assigns the tree with the emotion 'grief'. There is a modification of the popular saying 'green with envy', which Larkin uses as 'greenness is a kind of grief'. Their greenness is a sign that they are reaching the end of their lives, he is in some ways telling us that 'the writing is on the wall'. Therefore, he chooses to use the word ' grief' to show that it is not a blissful future, but short and sad. This shows us what Philip Larkin thought of death. He put this stanza early in the poem to show
Discuss Larkin's evocation of locations and place in this anthology and assess its significance in his poetry. You should refer to a number of poems in the collection.
Nicola White Discuss Larkin's evocation of locations and place in this anthology and assess its significance in his poetry. You should refer to a number of poems in the collection. Larkin refers to different locations and places in his poetry, whether he is referring to different countries and cities or just different areas. There is a significant amount of movement in his poetry from place to place using journeys, such as the use of train images in 'Here' and 'The Whitsun Weddings'. Larkin continually refers to his own lifestyle and past; his home town of Hull is referred to in a number of poems as well as other locations he has visited or moved to and his views on these areas. England and dying England are common themes within Larkin's poetry. He wishes to express his views towards his home and display his emotional distance from the country. Larkin seems to possess some patriotism yet he detaches himself from many places in England due to being a poet who has encountered many changes in English society. Larkin has a wide knowledge of various different locations and likes to express his attitudes towards the world surrounding him. Larkin's poem 'Here' presents an evocative representation of Hull during the 50's and also relates to the understanding of Larkin as the poet of provincial England. The poem however is encompassed in bias as Larkin represents his own opinions
Look again at "Mr Bleany" and "Self's the Man". Explore how Larkin presents men and their experiences of others in these two poems.
Look again at "Mr Bleany" and "Self's the Man". Explore how Larkin presents men and their experiences of others in these two poems. In this essay I intend to discuss how Larkin presents men and their experiences of others in "Mr Bleany" and "Self's the Man". In both poems Larkin presents men as down trodden, nagged and controlled by women although it is in a different way. The women have different relationships with the men and they play different roles in each of their lives. In "Mr Bleany" the woman is the narrators landlord and we see her trying to manipulate him as soon as the second stanza even though she has just met him, " Mr Bleany took my bit of garden properly in hand". We see this again in the forth stanza, "I know his habits- what time he came down, his preference for sauce to gravy". She is trying to turn him into her last tenant Mr Bleany by dropping these hints trying to get him to do what she wants. In "Self's the Man" the women is Arnold's wife and we see her nagging and controlling him perhaps more so than the landlady does in Mr Bleany. " Put a screw in this wall". I think the nagging is worse for Arnold because the landlady can't nag her tenant in the same way a wife can her husband. The women in the two poems have the upper hand in the relationships and with their nagging make the men feel that they live a slavish existence. Nothing in either poem
'Larkin is often thought of as a gloomy poet, describing life and the world around him in a drab and depressing manner.' Explore this idea in light of your reading of 'This Be the Verse'.
'Larkin is often thought of as a gloomy poet, describing life and the world around him in a drab and depressing manner.' Explore this idea in light of your reading of 'This Be the Verse'. Larkin's 'This Be the Verse' delivers a damning message to its reader that could be said to be typical of the man Larkin was. The poem describes how parents have passed on all their faults and bad habits to their children for centuries. The poem's crude meaning is characteristic of much of Larkin's other work, for example 'High Windows'. Larkin makes no attempt within the poem to conceal the message he is giving to the reader. The message is clear and blunt; the poem certainly contains no hidden meaning. He is basically saying that generations of parents have continued to pass on all the wrong things to the children. The opening line reads: "They fuck you up, your mum and dad." When you consider that the majority of us look upon our parents as the people who carve our characters, bring us up and support us the first line is quite damning of all mothers and fathers and when put into context is probably a revelation to many of us readers. When you relate the message of the poem though to Larkin's own unique childhood, you can begin to try to understand the venom of the poem's tone and meaning. Larkin, brought up in a secure, middle class family background found his childhood quite
From your study of Larkin to date, choose and comment on up to 4 poems where you have found this distinctive style at work.
"Larkin's style is distinctive: ironic, detached and observant, with a characteristic eye for the telling social detail and turn-of-phrase. It is a style- understated and hesitant- which many have seen as perfectly suited to the world of post-War Britain." From your study of Larkin to date, choose and comment on up to 4 poems where you have found this distinctive style at work. Larkin's style of writing, like most poets, was heavily influenced by the environment and society that surrounded him. It has been suggested by many that Larkin is a bleak, though suitable, social commentator for this era, as Eric Homberger suggests, he is "the saddest heart in the post-war supermarket." This role owes a large amount to his technique and approach to poetry. His sceptical, perceptive and removed outlook is reflected into poems such as 'Mr. Bleaney', 'MCMXIV' and 'Essential Beauty', brilliantly capturing the ironically familiar scenes of post-War Britain. 'Days', however, perhaps provides an exception to Larkin's unique observational style, revealing a more personal, philosophical approach. 'Mr. Bleaney' is a good illustration of Larkin's distinctive style. The poem begins with a description of the character's room and his situation, such as, 'Flowered curtains, thin and frayed, Fall to within five inches of the sill'. This extract highlights the observational aspect of Larkin's
How far do you agree that 'To the sea' conveys a sense of disappointment?
How far do you agree that 'To the sea' conveys a sense of disappointment? Some aspects of 'To the sea' convey sense of satisfaction, however other aspects suggest a feeling of disappointment, and this is particularly clear after the change in perspective in the last verse. In the first verse Larkin illustrates what he sees when he revisits the seaside, and remembers. He uses lots of adjectives to describe the activities going on, "Steep beach, blue water, towels, red bathing caps...warm yellow sand." Larkin creates an unreal and clichéd appearance of the scene by using primary colours for adjectives, this is emphasised by the onomatopoeic effect of "hushed waves' repeated fresh collapse" which furthers the idea of the perfect destination. Larkin also creates the image that time has stopped, firstly through his use of punctuation at the end of 3rd and last line he ends in a dash. This creates a pause for the reader and therefore the impression time has stayed still. Larkin also shows the image of time stopping through the description of the white steamer, "A white steamer stuck in the afternoon-" he clearly shows time has stopped by saying that it is 'stuck'. This is also emphasised by the alliteration of steamer and stuck, as well as showing delight that the steamer is there it makes the words stand out to the reader and emphasises that time has stopped. The overall tone
'Afternoons' by Philip Larkin.
Joe Murphy 'Afternoons' 31 January 2004 A poem which reflects on the subject of marriage is 'Afternoons' by Philip Larkin. The poem deals with Larkin's view on young mothers watching their kids playing in a playground and on this he concludes that marrying young and having children young, lead to the mothers losing their identity and destiny. The techniques used by the poet such as theme, imagery and tone deepened my understanding of the issue. The structure of the poem is simple; there are three stanzas with eight lines in each. However, unlike every other poem by Larkin this layout has no direct meaning. The lines are unrhymed. The first stanza deals with Larkin's rather cynical view of marriage and deals with the idea that the young mothers are isolated. Larkin's brilliant use of language emphasis the recurring theme of emptiness within the young mothers and how regimented their lives have become; 'In the hollows of afternoons' and 'young mothers assemble'. In the second stanza Larkin moves from the general view into the individual and describes the mother as belonging to a middle class background. Their husbands are described as working in 'skilled trades' and being 'behind them'. The husbands are not literally standing behind the women but are metaphorically. They provide support financially, emotionally and phycologically. On a
The Whitsun Weddings - Philip Larkin.
The Whitsun Weddings - Philip Larkin 9. Larkin wrote: "I like to read about people who aren't beautiful or lucky, presented with a realistic firmness and humour". How far do you feel that The Whitsun Weddings presents people like this? I have decided to use the following poems for this essay: - Sunny Prestatyn, Toads Revisited, MCMXIV, Take One Home For The Kiddies and The Study Of Reading Habits. The Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin does present people who aren't beautiful or lucky, presented with a real firmness and humour. However I believe that it is not shown in the whole of the collection. Sunny Prestatyn is a poem about a poster, which is advertising a seaside resort. The first image is the 'girl' advertising 'Sunny Prestatyn': an icon of femininity and of the beautiful life. The 'girl' has been systematically ruined by vandalism. This poem shows how beauty can be manipulated and made into a joke by some people. This was done by the graffiti and the sexual images, 'Huge tits...tuberous cock and balls', which were drawn on the poster. Beauty in this poem is described as what men find physically attractive about women. 'She was too good for this life' (149) this shows that although the vandals had a laugh when they were drawing over the poster that other people found the poster beautiful and it was destroyed meaning that it was no longer the beautiful image
Compare the ways in which larkin and abse write about love in their poems
Compare the ways in which Larkin and Abse write about love in their poems. Larkin's poetry often relates to the social and cultural views upon love and marriage in his time, love is an unusual theme in Larkin's poetry as his poems normally result to a recurring theme of death. 'An Arundel Tomb' expresses Larkin's views on love; it mirrors the ambiguity and paradox of love and life. However Abse on the other hand delivers a different approach, he for see's love as a special and unique that lies between him and his family. The theme of love is presented in many of Larkin's poems "An Arundel Tomb" is a key poem portraying the theme of love. The observer adopts the idea of the Latin names around the base as something surviving throughout time .Does he really mean the Latin language? Or is giving the reader and open-ended interpretation meaning love will survive. The observer uses an oxymoron "stationary voyage" to emphasize something moving but staying still, this could be interpreted as time passing but their love for one another is neverforgotten. "Such plainness of the pre-baroque Hardly involves the eye, until it meets his left-hand gauntlet, still clasped empty in the other; and one sees, with a sharp tender shock,
Larkin returned again and again to a study of the loner, the man outside society. Referring to three poems you have studied explore this theme
Larkin returned again and again to a study of the loner, the man outside society. Referring to three poems you have studied explore this theme Philip Larkin studies, in detail, the life of the loner in three of his poems Mr Bleaney, Self's the Man and Dockery and Son. The three poems are amazingly different when one considers that they are essentially around the same topic. A question that can be asked is why did Larkin produce so many pieces of work on loners. Could it be that he was portraying himself in his work, or was it that he was simply trying to express himself through his work. Whatever the reason is, it is plain to see that Larkin saw the topic of loners as one in which he could write comprehensive pieces of poetry. Mr Bleaney, Self's the Man and Dockery and Son are all set in very different situations and this may reflect different parts of the poet's life. The theme of loners is a very complex one and in each of the three poems mentioned Larkin takes a different angle on it. The poem Mr Bleany is written as if Larkin himself has taken up residence in the room where Mr Bleany once stayed in a bed sit. Mr Bleaney's life is re-told by Larkin from what the landlady has told him. It gives the reader the impression that Mr Bleany led a simple and uncomplicated life, and was in many ways a loner, including making the same trip for his short holiday away from working at
