Preview

Philip Larkin

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1040 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Philip Larkin
Philip Larkin Philip Larkin, is a famous writer in postwar Great Britain, was commonly referred to as "England's other Poet Laureate" until his death in 1985. Indeed, when the position of laureate became vacant in 1984, many poets and critics favored Larkin's appointment, but the shy, provincial author preferred to avoid the limelight.
Larkin achieved acclaim on the strength of an extremely small body of work, just over one hundred pages of poetry in four slender volumes that appeared at almost decade-long intervals. Although Larkin can be cynical and disappointed in tone these qualities are not characteristic of all his poetry. It is more accurate to say he takes a realistic and unromantic approach to life which is evident in his poems. In contrast, all his poetry shows a genuine sensitivity to others, and an awareness and sympathy of their life experiences. Church going is one of his most cynical poems. Even the title is cynical.” Church going” can mean going to church, or the fact that in his opinion the church is disappearing. 1st line is cynical. Larkin only goes in when nothing is going on, but in his opinion nothing important is ever going on in a church. Shows his disdainful attitude to church with phrases such as " another church" "little books" " some brass and stuff up the holy end" He is disrespectful, uncaring to church. He pronounces " Here endeth" and "echoes snigger loudly" Larkin is making fun of church and mocking it. But later in poem shows his sensitivity and understanding that men have an innate need to believe in something greater than themselves, and churches fulfill this need " A serious house on serious earth it is "and
" Since someone to this ground"
Although he atheist is sensitive to needs of others, and even empathies with others' feelings to some extent. In "Whitsun Weddings". Larkin begins with very an everyday disappointment, as he is "I was late getting away" for the weekend on the train. This shows Larkin’s very

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Kenneth Slessor Speech

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Kenneth Slessor, a renowned poet and journalist was born on the 27th of March 1901 in Orange, New South Wales. Throughout his eventful life, Slessor was able to compose an array of poems through which he was able to convey his experiences through life. But why exactly are his poems still considered so relevant and significant in this era? Firstly, Slessor’s poems were widely recognised for their ability to accurately depict his understanding of humanity, life, death and change. Across his oeuvre he conveys a unique yet consistent view of the meaning of life and death. He presents this through the use of poetic techniques such as metaphors, repetition, similes and alliteration which are evident through all of his poems. Good morning/afternoon Mr Younes and Yr. 12.…

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Larkin has used the first line of each stanza to tell us what that particular verse is going to be all about, in the subsequent lines Larkin then tells us his tale. In stanza one the scene is set, Larkin had a late start and the lunchtime train from Hull to London felt clammy because of the heat even though there was plenty of fresh air coming in through the windows, this is classic contradictory Larkin. As Larkin sat down on the hot train seat he began to feel a sense of relaxation. At last he could sit quietly and make his observations. The brilliant sunlight was almost blinding and the heat had further heightened the smell emanating from the already very smelly fish dock.…

    • 1901 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sunny Prestatyn Larkin

    • 1343 Words
    • 6 Pages

    With reference to three poems studied so far discuss how Larkin presents the theme of illusion and reality.…

    • 1343 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In reading a poem or a novel always the literature has a magnificent impact on the body, mind or imagination. A great literature or introduction of words can stir the reader body, mind and even imagination of the story behind it. In this essay, I will explore how can poems literature stirs the body, mind, and imagination and this will present through two poems ‘ The Weary Blues’ by Langston Hughes and ‘The Tin Wash Dish’ by Les A. Murray. In the Hughes poem the literature stirs the body in slow motion, stirs the mind in that musician have a great night and that have the same effect on the reader. Imagine the musician enjoying the piano music. However, in the Murray poem the literature stirs the body to feel sadness, the mind of the hardship of the poverty and imagination of…

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Poetry Essay Prompt

    • 2536 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Prompt: Write a unified essay in which you relate the imagery of the last stanza to the speaker’s view of himself earlier in the poem and to his view of how others see poets.…

    • 2536 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Compare the ways in which Blake and Larkin present the theme of corruption in their poems.…

    • 5026 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Billy Collins is one of the most credited poets of this century and last. He is a man of many talents, most recognized though by his provocative and riveting poetry. As John McEnroe was to the sport of tennis, Billy Collins has done the same for the world of poetry. Collin’s rejected the old ways of poetry, created his own form, broke all the rules, and still retains the love and respect of the poet community. Collins has received the title of Poet Laureate of the United States twice and also has received countless awards and acknowledgements. He has achieved this through a style of poetry that is not over-interpreted and hard to understand to most, but that of the complete opposite, his poetry is hospitable and playful.…

    • 1576 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In ‘Home is so sad,’ by Philip Larkin, the idea of disappointment and loss is presented through a home. The form and structure gives off spontaneous thoughts and written in two quintains and each stanza containing 5 lines. Each line contains ten syllables with a basic iambic metre and containing internal full stops. The poem has a basic rhyme scheme of A,B,A,B,A and contains enjambermont in points throughout. The title in the poem is a bit ironic because ‘home’ is associated with a warm, safe, pleasant place and shouldn’t be associated with sadness. In…

    • 1095 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Allen Ginsberg, William Blake, and Walt Whitman were three poets who greatly impacted the poetry world. All the poets used poetry as a way to express their feelings with different situations from the society to relationships. The poets made a lasting impact throughout their "reign" and their names are still recognizable to this day.…

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Larkin express the anger in the first line of the poem by giving the insights on how to better and punish for the wrong things that he has done. Larkin express a detailed account of her relationship with her father their conflicts and their realizations as well as a lesson learned. She though as a child that we don't always get a chance to say the things we want to say and sometimes we say more then we should. The relationship with her father was far from the norm and the last things she said to him where based on the torments of a past not completely open to…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    E. E. Cummings 's experimentation with form and language places him among the most innovative of twentieth-century poets. He developed a style so unique that his poetry was not fully appreciated until after his death. Cummings experimented radically with form, punctuation, spelling and syntax, abandoning traditional techniques and structures to create a new and unique style of poetic expression. Like Charles Williams and many other poets of his time, Cummings expresses in his poetry his philosophical views of individualism and transcendentalism, and his criticism towards society 's intolerance of nonconformists. He particularly conveys his philosophy of individualism and view of how we are all forced to conform in his poem’s ‘anyone lived in a pretty how town’ and his philosophy on transcendentalism in ‘maggie and milly and molly and may’ through the use of his experimental poetic techniques and his use of homophones, metaphor and personification.…

    • 784 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Larkin

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Philip Larkin’s collection, ‘The Whitsun Weddings’ and Dannie Abse’s collection ‘Welsh Retrospective’, both poets create a sense of place as they write about their own environments. Larkin uses a more detached observation as he uses a third person viewpoint, seen in ‘Here’ and ‘The Whitsun Weddings’, where he shows the journey of life. This differs to Abse, who presents a personal connection with the place and in the poems ‘Last Visit to 198 Cathedral Road’ and ‘Return to Cardiff’; Abse uses these places to evoke memories.…

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I was compelled to write an anthology on this poem because I liked how it focussed on a person’s imperfections rather than their strengths. The character in this poem, as he states in the first three stanzas, is weary and fatigued from his long swim; something I can relate to after countless swim practices. Another feature which caught my attention was the fact that the author chose to include his character fantasizing another life for himself, which was both sentimental and unusual.…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dead Poet's Society

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The line of Mr. John Keating, "We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for," emphasizes the point that poetry isn't just a literary form but it is something that is noble. It is a powerful media which we, human beings, can use to…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Adrapes

    • 3081 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Passion is an integral theme demonstrated in several poems by Sylvia Plath and Philip Larkin through their conscience use of literary devices which are explored in a number of auxiliary themes. The variety in techniques used, in addition to their differing attitudes towards the subjects of their poems express dissimilar versions of passion; there is a contrast in the levels of passion displayed: In Larkin’s poetry, a deficiency in passion demonstrated frequently by his submissive, detached tone in relation to women, specifically through his continuous use of negative lexis. Within his poetry contains an enduring theme of his adverse attitude towards his opposite gender, alongside his inept approach to relating with them. Plath’s poetry on the other hand, holds a unique degree of angst; her tone is almost one of resilience in the respect of her determination for suicide. She expresses herself through her poetry with a harsh, personal, very honest communication concerning her subject matter; of which tend to consist repeatedly of her father, husband and battle with depression; these agonies within her life influence the effective, deeply sad, passionate poetry. Past experiences are the mother of the feelings represented and passion is something that is woven within Plath’s poetry naturally, accidently, and equivalent to Larkin, it is not necessarily through a positive approach. The passion or lack of it, displayed by the two poets is suggested to be influenced by their views on women, the past, and relationships.…

    • 3081 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics