The overall tone and feeling of the first verse is that of delight and pleasure that Larkin has been able to step back into his memory, “step over the low wall that divides” and all of his joyful memories have remained and stood still in time.
In the second verse Larkin shows that the same things are happening at the seaside as when he used to come when he was a child. He shows his shock in the first line “still going on, all of it, still going on!” he uses repetition to emphasise the continuous pattern of the activities at the beach. The exclamation mark shows his amazement that things are so similar.
The theme of the continuous goings on is clear later on in the verse when he says “to lie, eat, sleep” Larkin uses a list-like technique to show the continuous pattern, and also the fact of lying eating and sleeping is like a routine shows that it keeps on happening. Larkin also says “half an annual pleasure, half a rite,” this again shows the routine-like and traditional qualities of going on holiday to the seaside, that it is part of life.
The second verse is mainly showing the continuing activities going on at the seaside and comparing them to every day life, and that the business of going on holiday to the seaside is always going to happen, and it’s something that can’t be stopped, although it’s as if time has because it seems so similar. The tone of the verse is similar to the first verse in that he is delighted in discovering that his memories are almost completely the same as the present behaviour that goes on at the beach.
Larkin, in verse three, explains deeper into his memory and compares to the present. He explains what his experience and what he used to do whilst he was at the seaside. “I searched the sand for famous cricketers” here Larkin tells his memory of when he was a child looking over the sand for cigarette cards that used to be collectable. This shows his typical personal experience when he went to the seaside with his parents, like any other family.
Larkin then switches from his memory to the present and what he sees, “strange to it now,” the use of ‘strange’ shows the realisation that there are some clear differences and that his memories are so far in the past that they are odd in comparison. He then describes the perfect scene that he can see now, “I watch over the cloudless scene: the same clear water over smoothed pebbles” the description is of happiness and an unspoiled environment as if there is nothing wrong with the seaside and it is a perfect place to be. This along with the first two verses leads the reader to feel a sense of satisfaction and perfection of the scene.
However Larkin changes his perspective and uses “and then” as the turning point which leads him to express what he sees once he looks past the ‘perfect postcard scene’. He uses a list-like technique, similar to the first verse when describing, but here he describes disguarded rubbish rather than joyful activities “cheap cigars, the chocolate papers, tea-leaves, and, between the rocks rusting soup tins” this shows the natural beach has been ruined by commercialism because of all of the everyday, commercial, rubbish that Larkin can see. This also gives a feeling of time passing and that it is no longer stood still.
The last verse continues the list, and also the felling of time moving on, “families trek back to the cars. The white steamer has gone.” Again Larkin contrasts to the first verse by describing the steamer. This again shows that time has passed, the short sentence describing the steamer gives a feeling of disappointment and that the happy memory has been lost, also his realisation that his memory is in the past and can’t be kept alive.
He also links back to earlier on in the poem, “habit” and “yearly” similar to “repeated” and “annual” from the first verses are like the waves at the seaside in the fact that they are continuing like the repetition of coming back every year, the rhythm of life is like waves in that they keep returning.
The last verse overall shows Larkin looking past the perfection he sees in his memories and realises what its become and how its changed, he realises that he might not have spotted the bad parts of the seaside when he was younger because his youth clouded his judgment and didn’t notice certain things. This shows the naivety of the first verse contrasting the mature last verse, which represents Larkin maturing over the time since he last visited the scene.
In conclusion I think that the poem does have a feeling of disappointment however it’s not until late in the poem the reader realises this. I believe this is because Larkin himself when writing the poem did not expect the disappointment. He is portraying his own feelings that he felt when writing the poem, and realised that time has passed and has spoiled the perfection he remembered from when he was a child. He tries to show the reader that the past was better than the present and the modern changes in society are not for the better, but are just ruining the past.