Phillip Larkin

Introduction

   Poet Phillip Larkin was born in Coventry in 1922. Raised in the orthodox middle class he graduated from Oxford in 1943 with a first in English. Already writing about his experiences he named his childhood as ‘a forgotten boredom’.  Most of his writings had been unnoticed until he began work at Hull University as a librarian in 1955 where he found a suitable publisher. His most famous work was ‘The Whitsun weddings’ which was published in 1964. Although his work was now growing in popularity he shunned all types of publicity. Eventually he died in 1985.

His work spanned over two very important eras in English history – the 50’s and 60’s. Although both prominent times they were important for very separate reasons.

   The 50’s were remembered by many as a grey time. This was due to the fact that as we were still rebuilding from the damage of the war there was very little or even no entertainment, also shortages of food and essential items were still very apparent. Many people think that Larkin’s bleak nature came from this era. At this time he was criticised greatly for his pessimism.

  The 60’s are remembered for much better reasons. It was a time of prosperity for the country and the economy boomed. The tourist industry grew and people shone with confidence.  

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The Large Cool Store

  The poem starts by introducing what he sees. There is a large store selling all types of clothing from knitwear to tights and stockings. The important part of this is not the clothes themselves it’s the colours. All of these garments are made in dark drab colours such as navy blues, browns and greys. This is because of the time period. It the 50’s and the post-war period so all the colours matched the mood of the citizens that would be wearing them-depressed! Next he goes onto the surrounding area, which was ...

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