Examine Philip Larkin’s view of love and relationships expressed in his poems in The Whitsun Weddings.
Examine Philip Larkin's View of Love and Relationships Expressed in His Poems in The Whitsun Weddings 'The Whitsun Weddings' published in 1964 by Larkin, made him famous. In the following poems in this essay; one sees reoccurring themes: marriage and relationships, importance (and nature) of love, the passage of time and fantasy with reality. Although not all are directly related to 'love;' some themes could be used to support and explain Larkin's opinions. The content of his poems are everyday life, personal experience or memory. The language used is simple, with irony and humor, which engages the reader. However, when carefully read, one could see deeper interpretations, which reveals Larkin's view of love. 'An Arundel Tomb' was based on an actual stone monument. The main theme in the poem is love and the impact of time on it. However, this could be interpreted as two opposing meanings. Often, as one's 'instinct,' and due to the simplicity of the language: it is seen that Larkin is optimistic about love. But, after careful analysis, one finds another view of love; where it is weak. At first glance, the poem suggests the power of love. 'What will survive of us is love,' this is a strong statement. The word 'will' adds confidence in the prediction that love will 'survive,' which imply love is everlasting (beyond death), and nothing will stop it. The tomb has lasted 'through
What interests you about Larkin's use of language and verse form in three of the poems you have studied so far?
What interests you about Larkin's use of language and verse form in three of the poems you have studied so far? The poems that I have chosen to comment on from the collection The Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin are Here, Nothing to be said and Faith Healing. I have chosen to write about these three because they are all very different in terms of theme, language, verse form and Larkin's message and purpose. Here is the opening poem of The Whitsun Weddings. It locates the reader in Larkin's England and centres around a journey the protagonist is making from London to Northumberland via Larkin's hometown of Hull. Larkin uses a range of language and writing devices to express his feelings and at times his prejudices through his poetry and he does this especially well in Here. The first stanza begins with "swerving east". The word "swerving" suggests a dangerous movement and a lack of control from the person or thing that is swerving. When someone swerves it is usually to avoid something so by using the word "swerving" Larkin is immediately presenting the reader with a sense of avoidance and lack of control. Larkin then goes on to say that the fields are "too thin and thistled to be called meadows". This shows that he is passing through an area of land, which cannot quite be classed as countryside but is not quite urban. This could possibly be a representation of how Larkin is
Comparison Between Wild Oats and Broadcast
Comparison Between Wild Oats and Broadcast Introduction Philip Larkin has once again created two magnificent poem and they are both three verses, as are many of his other pieces, such as: 'The Trees' and 'Cut Grass' ' Broadcast' and 'Wild firm and stable relationship with any women. The main theme of both these two poems is love but neither of the titles indicates anything about affection or passion. 'Broadcast' is more virtual reality than reality because Larkin is imagining a beautiful woman standing amongst a crowd in a concert, from the music, which is vibrantly coming out of his radio. This shows that the poem is written over a short time period: about three to four minutes, which is the average length of a piece of classical music. Whereas, 'Wild Oats' was over a long period of time: about seven to eight years, involving two girls and how Larkin was not able to keep a close and solid relationship with neither of them Both these poems were written in the late nineteen sixties, early nineteen seventies due to the evidence, which is shown in both of them. In 'Broadcast' it shows that before the concert: the national anthem of England was played. This was only done in that time period. Also in 'Wild Oats' it is written that they were still using Guineas as their currency, which proves that 'Wild Oats' was also written in that time period. Oats' are extremely enjoyable
My transformation of Philip Larkin's first-person adult poem, 'Mr Bleaney' into a third and first person short story for a similar audience.
Text Transformation: Commentary My transformation of Philip Larkin's first-person adult poem, 'Mr Bleaney' into a third and first person short story for a similar audience was both rewarding and challenging. Being appreciative of Larkin's work prior to this exercise, I selected the aforementioned piece and 'Here' from a collection of poetry. I made the choice to transform these texts as they to relate to one another in cultural context; namely the working class in the post war period. I was also intrigued by how brightly Larkin's personal view shone through, as 'Mr Bleaney' and 'Here', like a lot of his other work portrays a Spartan view of the working class, for example 'raw estates'. To magnify this, I have named the narrator in the latter part of my piece Philip Smith (a relatively non-descript surname, which makes a link to Mr Bleaney's non-descript life, and the poet's forename which makes a link between his and my narrator's values). I found the base text to be quite restrictive in terms of the characters' views and was therefore eager to develop Mr Bleaney, and offer an insight into whether he enjoyed living such a life or not and why the narrator was so fervent in criticising him. While keeping in line with the poem's purpose to entertain, I accentuated this through humour, sarcasm and irony, for instance; 'Touring my new haven of outdated furnishing and the
Larkin has been criticised for a lack of sympathy in his poetry. Based on your reading of the Whitsun Weddings collection of poems, how fair is this criticism.
Larkin has been criticised for a lack of sympathy in his poetry. Based on your reading of the Whitsun Weddings collection of poems, how fair is this criticism. Philip Larkin's poetry is well known for its portrayal of his own views on relationship issues such as marriage, women and sex that has frequently caused controversy in all social classes both then and now. Most people in particular women don't like his sexist male views favouring the stereotypically 'beautiful' women to intellectual women purely because of their sexual attractiveness and voicing that a women's role is with 'an estateful of washing'. From his views, people would have criticised his poetry for having a lack of sympathy because he discriminates the female sex so coldly. I believe that in contrast to other people's views, he is indeed sympathetic, in the way that he sympathises with women because they were unfortunate enough to be of the female sex. This must seem an obscure way of analysing his thoughts but in some of Larkin's poems, we can see that he sympathises with women for being female, with men for being with women and also with himself for not matching up to his own expectations. The way he talks about women in poems such as 'Wild Oats' gives an example of the way Larkin compared women to each other, weighing their attributes up such as a predatory male would do to insure he had the fittest
ILLUSION VS REALITY
Illusion and Reality Essay Examine how Larkin presents ideas about illusion and reality in his poetry. You should write about 2 or 3 poems The poems "Love Songs in Age" and "Faith Healing", Larkin presents the idea of the illusion and the reality through the format of how people strive for love (being the illusion) and what they really have (being reality). It is conveyed through his abstract concepts and his thoughts towards 'love'. A recurring motif of love is established throughout both poems. The idea that love is no more than a self-protective illusion. The way the poem germinates is also typical of Larkin. An ordinary, seemingly trivial incident is explored and in the process is revealed an inescapable truth about human experience. Perhaps less usual in Larkin's poetry is the lack of cynicism or bitterness. I think this comes from the suggestion that the widow put aside not only her 'love songs' all those years ago, but also the youthful illusions that generate the unrealistic expectations we have of love. In the poem "Faith Healing" and "Love Sings in Age" shows his ideas and feelings in hidden context by making the reader unveil his thoughts on what he thinks. "Upright in rimless glasses, silver hair, Dark suit....", the sibilance in this line emphasise the smoothness and the slickness of the faith healer who is expected to be dressed in this sort of way, He's
"Afternoons" by Philip Larkin analysis.
Discuss how the narrator approaches the themes of ageing and relationships This is a melancholy poem, which reflects on the subject of marriage. The poem deal with Larkin’s view on young mothers watching their children playing in a playground and he concludes that marrying young leads to the mothers losing their identity. Larkin’s description of young mothers taking their children to a playground seems like normal but the narrator’s point of view on life is expressed. What seems like an ordinary, everyday occurrence highlights the theme of change and how it cannot be avoided and the passing of time. Larkin’s choice of words, symbolism and imagery clearly portrays this passage of time and the routines of these mothers’ lives. The first line sets the scene at the beginning of autumn, “summer is fading.” Seasons are used to symbolise certain stages in life. In autumn, most life starts to fade away in front of our eyes. This illustrates how these mothers lives are deteriorating, and how their family have become the only thing they live for. ‘Fading’ further emphasises how their lives are vanishing. This links to the title of the poem and the use of plural suggests he is not discussing only one day but several days which shows how this is routine for these young mothers. They are doing the same things every day which show how monotonous their lives are. It
Choose two poems in which Larkin explores places, Discuss his use of language, form and structure and the attitudes he explores towards the subject (Here & The Importance of Elsewhere).
Choose two poems in which Larkin explores places, Discuss his use of language, form and structure and the attitudes he explores towards the subject (Here & The Importance of Elsewhere). As is common for Larkin he begins the poem "Here" on a journey. This particular poem suggests a train journey from the south-east, maybe in London where Larkin spent a great deal of his time, up to the north-east, to possibly his Home town of Hull. He depicts, from what we imagine to be his seat on the train, many features of post war England as the train moves out of the "industrial shadows" up to rural Landscape and back to urban surroundings before reaching it's final destination. Larkin uses the idea of journeys and travelling to create the sensation of time passing or to illustrate changes in the world or economy. However, unlike "Here", "The Importance of Elsewhere" does not see Larkin begin his journey, rather he begins this poem when he obviously feels, as indicated by the opening line "lonely in Ireland". Many claim that this poem was written during the time Larkin spent working in Ireland. The feeling that perhaps Larkin did not fit in is suggested by the strict half rhyme scheme that run's through this poem, consisting of words that partly rhyme and sound as though they should fit together. "Swerving East from Industrial shadows", Larkin begins his journey in the poem "Here".
An Arundel Tomb
An Arundel Tomb A poem in which the poet explores the significance of the passage of time is An Arundel Tomb by Philip Larkin. Larkin uses techniques such as, imagery and word choice to achieve this. Immediately, the title of the poem makes the reader consider the importance of the theme of time. An Arundel Tomb, when broken down to each single word the connotations are; 'An' portraying only one; 'Arundel' a town near Chichester in England where this tomb is actually present; and 'Tomb', the word tomb gives away the poem most because it makes you begin to think about how tombs are usually only for rich people and were mostly for people who were of some sort of royalty or importance and also the idea of death, people only go into the tomb after they have died. The people who the tomb was made for was an earl and countess which kind of proves the point about people being rich to afford a tomb. Similarly, the structure of the poem highlights Larkin's concern with the passage of time, the poem is written in seven stanzas with an ABBCAC regular rhyme scheme. Each stanza is written in a neat way with every stanza having six lines. The neat structure of the poem mimics the way the effigies are lying still, next to each other, "Side by side, their faces blurred" The impression I get from the regular structure of the poem is that art can withstand the erosion of time, which
Biography - Philip Larkin (1922-85).
Biography Philip Larkin (1922-85) Photograph by Philip Sayer. From the cover of Required Writing. Philip Arthur Larkin was born on August 9, 1922, in Coventry. He was the second child, and only son, of Sydney and Eva Larkin. Sydney Larkin was City Treasurer between the years 1922-44. Larkin's sister, some ten years his senior, was called Catherine, but was known as Kitty. He attended the City's King Henry VIII School between 1930 and 1940, and made regular contributions to the school magazine, The Coventrian, which, between 1939 and 1940, he also helped to edit . After leaving King Henry VIII, he went to St. John's College, Oxford, and despite the war (Larkin had failed his army medical because of his poor eyesight), was able to complete his degree without interruption, graduating in 1943 with a First Class Honours in English. His closest friends at Oxford were Kingsley Amis and Bruce Montgomery. The first of his poems to be published in a national weekly was 'Ultimatum', which appeared in the Listener, November 28, 1940. Then in June 1943, three of his poems were published in Oxford Poetry (1942-43) . These were 'A Stone Church Damaged By A Bomb', 'Mythological Introduction', and 'I dreamed of an out-thrust arm of land'. After graduating, Larkin lived with his parents for a while, before being appointed Librarian at Wellington, Shropshire, in November of 1943.