Monday, 2 February 2015

Ambulances - Philip Larkin

Ambulances - Philip Larkin



Death - society before seemed to accept death, now society seem to defy it.
images of threads unravelling, Two images - person is the knitted item and the organs are the thread, when one thread comes loose, the whole knitted item is loosened, therefore it is time for the ambulance. or A family is the knitted item and one person is the loose thread, when one person dies the whole family falls apart, therefore they need ambulances to knit the family back together.
Stanza 1 - one certainty is death, ambulances will eventually stop on everyone's street for all kinds of reasons.
Stanza 2 - someone has been taken away in the ambulance, people have stopped their daily business to have a look.
Stanza 3 - emptiness, absence death for the person in the ambulance
Stanza 4 - thinking of the person who died and their family
Stanza 5 - loneliness, die alone - "unreachable inside a room"
"and dulls to distance all we are"

Dockery and Son - Philip Larkin



Dockery and Son - Philip Larkin



Old school, past visited by future, last visit, parting ways
narrative persona, also speech from other people
Stanza 1 - Dean talking - 1 sided conversation, persona in a daydream?
Stanza 2 - persona feels ignored, locked out, like he doesn't belong
Stanza 3 - dream state gone, back to reality - regret?
Stanza 4 - hightlights the choices of life, lightbulb moment for the persona, reflection, thins of what he hasn't done, doubts own judgement.
Stanza 5 - why does everyone have the same view on life, babies, marriage? persona seen as selfish for not having children, but everyone is selfish in someway, why should we be selfless.
Stanza 6 - reflection on death, atheist, get old - have a son to look after you - not the reality - you become a burden - you die.
Reflection of life - what you are supposed to do so that you have a good life, for example most people believe that a family will lead to happiness. Larkin appears not to, everyone is selfish, some people are more susceptible to it, some believe that having a child will make them less selfish, or make up for their selfishness. Larkin is seen as an atheist, therefore believes that what he does on Earth makes no difference to his life after death, because he believes that nothing comes after death.

The Whitsun Weddings - Philip Larkin

The Whitsun Weddings - Philip Larkin



Whitsun - time - 7th sunday after easter - bank holiday - popular wedding date.
narrative persona - outsider, judging
Stanza 1 - leaving the platform late
Stanza 2 - continuing the journey - all towns look the same
Stanza 3 - persona starts to notice the wedding parties
Stanza 4 - persona more curious, more critical towards the party
Stanza 5 - end of wedding days
Stanza 6 - heading towards the city
Stanza 7 - persona commenting on all the people who were married that day but yet will never meet
Stanza 8 - the changes of life, journey, crossroads.
poetic techniques - alliteration, 1st person, hyperbole, enjambment, caesura, zeugma, imagery, juxtaposition, vernacular speech.
themes -  journeys, love, marriage, life. the persona focuses more on the people than the landscape. criticizes them, their outfits, feels he is better than them, doesn't understand marriage.
"a religious wounding", idea of a crossroads "bright knots of rail"