To what extent, in terms of subject matter and style, do you consider 'High Windows' to be an appropriate title poem for the collection?

Authors Avatar

To what extent, in terms of subject matter and style, do you consider ‘High Windows’ to be an appropriate title poem for the collection?

High Windows is a collection that deals with several interlinking themes. One of the most obvious is that of windows, which are used throughout the poems as an analogy for reflection, retrospection, observations and external or internal influences. Other themes such as death, religion, youth, sex tradition, society and outside observers also occur frequently throughout the collection. It could be said that the poem High Windows includes and explores many of these themes, and as such provides a good summation of the content of the others. Its form and structure can also be compared to the rest of the collection – Larkin uses some very specific techniques and structural decisions within several of the poems, and High Windows is perhaps one of the best examples of where these techniques are used to the best effect.

In High Windows, Larkin employs free verse with a simple rhyme scheme. This could be said to be fairly unusual, as in other poems such as To The Sea he uses very complex rhyme schemes. He often chooses to rhyme between stanzas, and this is clearly a very conscious and crafted decision. Larkin also makes use of traditional poetic forms – for example, The Card-Players takes the form of a sonnet. The fact he has chosen to use free verse could show that High Windows has a modern setting, unlike The Card-Players which is a narrative set around the 17th century. It could also be a suggestion that the collection deals largely with universal and simplistic theme such as life and death, and thus the simplicity of the rhyme scheme epitomises this.

Join now!

Other structural decisions that appear in High Windows can also be seen in other poems. Larkin often uses italics to show that someone other than the main narrator of the poem is speaking. ‘That’ll be the life; no God  any more, or sweating in the dark is being spoken by someone of the previous generation looking at the speaker in their youth. This also occurs in Sympathy in White Major, which includes such lines as ‘He devoted his life to others’, which seems to be being said by someone at the speaker’s funeral. The Explosion includes italicised lines being spoken by ...

This is a preview of the whole essay