Send No Money - Philip Larkin

Links: Dockery and Son, Self's the Man, Here

Written on Larkin's 40th birthday

Stanza 1: 'fobbed' is refering to a fob watch, it could also refer to him being 'fobbed' off by time.
'Tell me the truth' - asking time - personification of time, what's the meaning of life? is what Larkin is asking.
'All the other lads there were itching to have a bash' - living life, like Dockery and Son. - Larkin is waiting to find out what the meaning of life is, and in doing this he has let time pass him by. - paradoxical.

Stanza 2: Larkin seems intimidated and overwhelmed by time - 'so he patted my head, booming'

Stanza 3: 'half life is over now' - he is middle aged, re-examining life, maybe having a mid-life crisis.
'And i meet full face on dark mornings the bestial visor' - personification of death or time or the truth.
'what does it prove? sod  all.' - wasting life - waiting - regret - not enjoying life - just waiting for things to happen.
'spent youth' - wasted youth
'tracing the trite untransferable truss-advertisement truth' - alliteration - missing out on life because he was looking for the meaning of life.
'truss-advertisement' - embarrassing - to do with age, supposed to help - it's a con - 'send no money' now but you will pay in the end - a bit like life.

Love Songs in Age - Philip Larkin

Links: Dockery and Son, The Whitsun Weddings, Reference Back, Talking in Bed - continuing with something when it is not satisfying.

Stanza 1: 'in widowhood' - recently widowed - old widowed female finds sheet music which she played in the 20-30's. she was married and had a daughter - positive time - contrast to how she feels now.
'she found them, looking for something else' - clear out - good to have a change in life.
Stanza 2: 'sense of being young' - music is a trigger for youth - nothing wrong - do anything - infinite potential.
'spread out'. - can go anywhere - possibilities
Stanza 3: 'the glare of that much-mentioned brilliance love' - 'glare' - light - blinded - cant see clearly - slightly unpleasant. 'brilliance' - jewels - reflect light - rare - expensive - precious - hard/cold.
'still promising to solve, and satisfy' - love = answer to troubles and doesnt need anything else.
'lamely admitting how it had not done so then and could not now' - only now she can bail out - love didnt solve all her problems when she was young and it wont now.

the woman had potential of youth - fell in love - blinded her - potential reduced
love=marriage=trapped.
Rabbit in the headlights - blinded - cant move - trapped in love and marriage

Regretful tone

Reference Back - Philip Larkin

 

Links - imagery - tree trunks - Love Songs in Age
 - train tracks - Dockey and Son - Here - The Whitsun Weddings
one way conversation - Dockery and Son - 'boredom then fear'

Stanza 1: 'pretty' not usually a word to describe music - shows his mother doesnt know much about his interests - not a close relationship.
'call from the unsatisfactory hall to the unsatisfactory room' - relationship not even in the same room.
its not good enough for him - unsatisfactory.
'wasting my time' - he's just listening to music in a place that doesnt feel like home and he's not getting anywhere.
'home' - should be a refuge and comfort, but he doesnt feel at home there
Stanza 2: 'the flock of notes those antique Negroes blew' - the music of slavery - he feels trapped
'three decades later' - 1953 - he's in his 30's yet acting like a teenager.
'sudden bridge' - between him and his mother - music metaphor
'unsatisfactory age' - old - running out of time
'unsatisfactory prime' - he is the prime age for marriage etc but he hasnt done anything significant - everything is unsatisfactory - he is only looking for things to be satisfactory, he's not even aiming for spectacular.
Stanza 3: 'we are not suited to the long perspectives' - one day at a time - they dont like looking o the future.
'open' - opportunities, life choices - traintrack/tree imagery
'losses, worse, they show us what we have as it once was' - one choice, one future, oneway ticket - dont look back because it shows missed opportunities.

Wild Oats - Philip Larkin

title - euphemism for young men reproducing but not young women

Stanza 1: 'faces in those days sparked the whole shooting - match off' - dates - notion of love and desire - love at first sight
'a bosomy english rose and her friend in specs i could talk to' - he fancies the first one but feels more comfortable with the second.
'But it was the friend i took out' - the first girl was too stunning - he settled for second best.
Stanza 2: 'and in seven years after that' - she wasted 7 years of her life waiting to be asked to be married.
'wrote over four hundred letters, gave a ten-guinea ring' - he did treat her to things - it appears that he is just ticking things off a list, he thinks money buys love, hes showing off, going through the motions - nice ladies would have said no to sex before marriage because there was no contraception, so he would of had to get her to marry him.
'i met beautiful twice. she was trying both times (so i thought) not to laugh' - they only met twice but he remembers, he calls her beautiful - but not the one he is dating. he's in love with the idea. he thinks shes mocking him.
Stanza 3: 'was an agreement that i was too selfish, withdrawn and easily bored to love.' - she could have realised this and tried to end it. or he has tried to finish it before and decided that this was the only way to put her off of him.
'well, useful to get that learnt' - male perspective, not really bothered by it, given up, dismissive - he learns the truth about himself. he's been dating her for 7 years and we are not told her name.
'in my wallet are still two snaps, of bosomy rose with fur gloves' - he has photos of a woman he never talked to and doesnt even know.
'unlucky charms, perhaps' - photos, he fell in love but didnt do anything about it - he was just in love with her beauty because he didnt get to know her - he couldnt love anyone else because hes always thinking about her.

Self's the Man - Philip Larkin

title - celebrating selfishness
Links - Dockery and Son - comparing two lives.
1st person - Larkin persona, talking about Arnold-been married a long time
Larkin poems:paradox

What Larkin thinks is a marriage - 'now she's there all day'
'she takes as her perk'
'kiddies'
'it's put a screw in this wall - he has no time at all'
'and that letter to her mother'

Stanza 1: 'a woman' - no name - dismissive - derogatory
Stanza 2: 'wasting his life on work' - thinks that there should be more to life
Stanza 3: 'he has no time at all' - larkin is alone and has all the time in the world but Arnold is always on the go and can never relax - contrast
Stanza 4: 'and that letter to her mother saying wont you come for the summer' - the mother-in-law, realism, dramatised - embedded dialogue.
Stanza 5: 'oh, no one can deny that Arnold is less selfish than i.' - sarcasm, society thinks Arnold is less selfish than larkin because he has a family.
Stanza 6: 'but wait, not so fast' - every human is selfish - being selfless makes you feel better which is actually selfish.
'is there such a contrast?' - different take on it - he is in fact  selfish on the inside - same as larkin.
'he was out for his own ends not just pleasing his friends' - Arnold got married to please himself.
Stanza 7: 'only im a better hand at knowing what i can stand!' - knows what he wanted and what he was prepared to do.

regular rhyme - less sincere, bouncy and jumpy, makes it comical
written in the style of not a very good poet - sarcasm, mocking the working class.

Talking In Bed - Philip Larkin

its about unity, realistic love
pathetic fallacy

Stanza 1: about a couple in bed - 'talking' - you usually sleep in bed. 'ought' - it should be the easiest thing to do but its not. should represent a couple that loves and cares for one another.
Stanza 2: 'more and more time passes silently' - silence, yet they are talking - harder to find things to talk about, they are not confronting their problems.
end of stanza moves on to talk about the weather.
Stanza 3:talks about the landscape but still relates to people - 'none of this cares for us' - we are alone in the world - you feel alone even tough theres someone next to you. so close but so far apart.
Stanza 4: 'more difficult to find words at once true and kind' - its hard to find what to say, and think of compliments.
'or not untrue and not unkind' - double negative, means the same thing - sometimes you have to lie to keep the relationship going.

Mr Bleaney - Philip Larkin

Larkin - looking at the room - fear of death - same as mr bleaney.

describes room - room is a metaphor for mr bleaneys life -  doesnt need to describe mr bleaney.

Title - grim and dull name - connotations - bleak, rainy, lean.

Stanza 1: Persona feels sympathy for mr bleaney. 'til they moved him' - from work to work? or he died? - he has no control of his own destiny.
also looks down on him - 'thin and frayed' - reflection on him, lack of energy or money.
unspoken questions - why and how he lived like this? why not change?
Stanza 2: description.
Stanza 3: feeling of empathy - 'so it happens that i lie where mr bleaney lay' - Larkin knows how mr bleaney felt - mr bleaneys life is better than Larkin's  - mr bleaney moved on - Larkin is one step behind.
Stanza 4: feeling of sympathy but also looking down on him - 'the jabbering set' - 'jab' - like a continuous punch - looking down, why would you want something like this.
'his preference for sauce to gravy' - looking down - unsophisticated.
Stanza 5: looking down - 'four aways' - like the lottery - Larkin thinks its mindless and delusional.
'the Frinton folk' - town, boring, not exotic, grim.
Sympathy - 'who put him up' - could be changed to 'who put up with him' - even they feel sorry for him.
Stanza 6: sympathy - 'frigid wind' - frozen, no fertility - closed to life, cold - similar to Larkin.
sympathy - 'telling himself that this was home' - he has nothing better.
persona looks down - 'grinned' - sly or fake, sounds like grim - not a nice word.
Mr Bleanys better than Larkin - appeared to have a happy life
Stanza 7: 'and at his age having no more to show than one hired box' - sympathy - died too soon,
looking down - thats all he had.
empathy - we just go from one box to another - flat - coffin, life - death, ends up being about Larkin.

As Bad As A Mile - Philip Larkin

Larkin’s persona has eaten an apple and is trying to throw the core into a basket, but keeps missing. Although he cannot get it into the basket, he keeps picking it up and trying again.

Failure – Although the persona keeps trying to get it into the bucket, he cannot hit the target

Determination – Although you might fail, you should keep going until you get it right

Religious imagery – The story of Adam and Eve – they ate the apple even though God forbid them from doing so, and they were banished from the Garden of Eden. So, this could be saying that taking the “forbidden fruit” or giving into temptation can cause failure and irreversible effects

“Watching the shied core” 

 The word “shied” has different meanings:

 Past participle of shy (so being shy/afraid of Larkin’s persona?

Avoiding doing or being involved with something due to nervousness or lack of confidence (links to theme of failure – core is afraid of not going in the basket, so afraid of failure)

To fling or throw something at a target – this is the literal meaning as the persona is throwing the apple core at the basket

“Striking the basket, skidding across the floor” 

Poetic devices: 

Use of “s” sound in “striking” and “skidding” 

Onomatopoeic sounds in “skidding”

Repetition of “s” sound suggests a routine, or the action being repeated .

“Shows less and less of luck, and more and more

Of failure..” 

Repetition of “less” and “more” for emphasis

“less” used twice, again like a routine, with the chance of success decreasing each time

“more” used twice, creates the feeling of wanting to give up when you don’t succeed

“more” is usually used for a positive meaning (e.g. more money = more happiness) but is used as a negative here 

“Of failure spreading back up the arm” 

“up the arm” – like a heart attack. As he continues to fail the persona begins to take it more personally

The heart is the most important part of the body, so if the heart fails, the body fails

The persona is letting the failure affect him emotionally and psychologically, so this then creates a bigger failure 

“Earlier and earlier, the unraised hand calm”

Going back in time, before Larkin had even eaten the apple – “unbitten”

“unraised hand calm” – he hasn’t tried to throw it yet, so he isn’t feeling frustrated or like a failure

Not afraid of failure, the possibility of success is still there 

“The apple unbitten in the palm” 

Possibilities – when you are young, you have more opportunities whereas in later life you are more limited

Pessimism – in hindsight, you can see that you have failed, so may be reluctant or hesitant to carry on doing something

Getting older – the apple being eaten is like getting older, more is taken away (both physically and metaphorically) and you become weaker, until eventually you are a dead core

Throwing the core away is like throwing a life away

Life and death – you only live once, so don’t be afraid to take an opportunity and be ambitious

Determination – even if you fail, you should keep trying

Age – when you are young, you are ambitious and feel like you can do anything. In old age there are some things you can’t do and see yourself as a failure because of it. 

Links: Dockery and Son – life choices and questioning your own success/failures 

Whitsun Weddings – feeling of being young, having your whole life ahead of you, but also Larkin’s persona feeling like a failure because he’s not married/with children

Abse: In Landough Hospital

A Study of Reading Habits - Philip Larkin

Sarcastic, self mocking tone, abcbac rhyme scheme

Links: Dockery and Son, Self's the Man

Stanza 1: talking about what books meant to him as a child. - 'cured most things short of school' - he felt books helped him get away from everything apart from bullying at school - he was probably reading feelgood superhero books - reading to escape - as a comfort and refuge.
'and deal out the old right hook to dirty dogs twice my size' - taking reading into reality in his mind.

Stanza 2: describing teenage fantasy - 'evil was just my lark' - horror books, fantasy - Dracula.
'The women i clubbed with sex! i broke them up like meringues' - he's reading older books - women are victims - feels he has power - possession and desire.

Stanza 3: describes how predictable books are - he's seeing the same stories and getting bored.
'Books are a load of crap'. - he's realising that books are just fiction and you cant do the same in real life, he feels like he's been let down by books because the comfort he got from them as a child arent real and cannot help him in real life.

The Importance of Elsewhere - Philip Larkin

Links to Whitsun Weddings, Here

Stanza 1: talks about him being an outsider, however 'strangeness made sense' shows that he somehow fits in because he understands that he's different. the different accents were strange yet new and liberating, and once he begins to understand the accents he feels 'in touch' with the place.

Stanza 2: 'Archaic smell of dockland' reminds him of Hull, seems similar, he fits in.
'to prove me separate, not unworkable.' - he's not Irish but he can still belong there, he feels more comfortable than at home because there is good reason for him not to fit in in Ireland, but in Hull there is no excuse for him not to belong.

Stanza 3: 'These are my customs and establishments' - he cannot deny his homeland but feels he needs to be sociable there and thats not what he wants.  

Faith Healing - Philip Larkin

Links - Reference Back, Ambulances, Wild Oats.

persona is observing the people and faith healer in the first two stanzas, the third is more judgemental.

Stanza 1: about the faith healer - describing in detail - 'Dark suit, white collar' - looks like a priest or vicar, people more inclined to trust and believe in him.
shows the reality of the faith healer - he's not really caring - 'deep american voice demands and, scarcely pausing' - he's not really listening he's just trying to see as many people as possible to get more money - he's: persuasive, fake, unfeeling, powerful, aggressive, arrogant and cold.
'Directing god' - shows he's arrogant, thinks he can tell god what to do, thinks he can play god.

Stanza 2: describes the women - 'sheepishly stray' - they are easily lead, and quick to believe.
'a kind of dumb and idiot child within them still survives' - they are naive, gullible and vulnerable, they seem to be people who have been rejected by society - Larkin empathises. these women put all their loneliness and insecurity onto the faith healer, hoping that they will be cured - but you cannot be cured from loneliness.

Stanza 3:philosophical - Larkin is judging the faith healer and the people that believe in him.
'By now all is wrong' - showing that before they only had one problem and now that they've seen the faith healer everything is wrong.

this poem reveals the faith healer to be a fake, emphasising the fact that Larkin is an atheist and doesn't believe.

Ignorance - Philip Larkin

rhyme scheme - aabbccddeeff - first line of each stanza is excluded.
informal and vague language.
links with 'Quests'

Stanza 1: about being a child - uninformed and doubtful - questioning - 'never to be sure of what is true or right or real' 'someone must know'

Stanza 2: about being a teenager - not wanting to be told what to do - thinking that you are right - 'Their skill at finding what they need'

Stanza 3: about being and adult or someone elderly - loosing control of yourself - death taking over - 'for our flesh surrounds us with its own decisions' - 'that when we start to die we have no idea why' - go back to being uninformed.

Nothing To Be Said - Philip Larkin

Links to Mr Bleany, Dockery and Son, Love Songs in Age
Abse links: A wall - manmade like Larkin describes - decaying and useless, yet beautiful.

Stanza 1: talks about manmade ruins and decay, dark atmosphere
'small-statured cross-faced tribes And cobble-close families' - everyone is linked by death, no matter where you live or what you look like.
'Life is slowly dying' - paradox, negative imagery - 'slowly dying' is repeated throughout.

Stanza 2: 'measuring love and money' - these things are pointless because you dont have them when you die anyway.
'the day spent hunting pig Or holding a garden party' - difference between ancient and modern but both are equally pointless, why spend time doing these things when you know you could die any second.

Stanza 3: shows that death is inevitable no matter what you're doing any there are so many different ways to die.
philosophical ending: 'and saying to some means nothing'.  - some people aren't bothered and maybe dont fear death. 'others it leaves nothing to be said' - theres a shock element, they know they are going to die one day but they dont want to talk or think about it - out of sight out of mind.

Water - Philip Larkin

positive poem, written in first person

links to Abse's Red Balloon because they are both about religion.

Stanza 1: 'construct a religion' - seems like anyone could invent a religion.

lots of religious and aquatic imagery. ironic to be talking about religion because larkin is an atheist.

'make use of water' - all religions use water, they are all connected by water, so why shouldn't water be a religion?

Stanza 2: is about location and what would happen. 

'ford' - shallow river - like a baptism or renewal.

Stanza 3: 'sousing' - completely submerged in water

'a furious devout drench' - completely passionate about the religion.

Stanza 4: 'raise in the east' - all religions started in the east.

'would congregate endlessly' - religion is endless - water is endless.

Larkin is saying that if people are going to believe in and worship anything it should be water, water is what created life, which is a valid reason to worship it. we are all fighting over religion but Larkin is saying that we should all just worship water instead and it could end the fighting.

First Sight - Philip Larkin

Larkin links - Ambulances, Here, Whitsun Weddings
Abse links - A Wall - due to nature, positivity, nature and nurture
obvious differences - natural and manmade also 'A Wall' has no rhyme scheme.

religious and pastoral imagery.

Lambs born in spring, the wonders of spring.

stanza 1: lambs - innocent young and vulnerable, learning to walk in the cold unwelcoming snow.
stanza 2: has a happy ending of new life after a cold winter this gives hope.

Days - Philip Larkin

2 stanzas, no rhyme scheme, links with dockery and son, reference back, faith healing.

Larkin is philosophical throughout and asks the question 'what are days for', and he questions place and time and their links.
 'the priest and the doctor In their long coats, Running over the fields'. this kind of shows that when days are over and we don't know whats coming next religion and science and racing to find out and explanation of where we are and why.

Home is so sad - Philip Larkin

only 2 stanzas, ABABACDCDC rhyme scheme
probably written after the the death of his mother as it is about bereavement and loss. also the fact that everything had stayed where it is seems to show that he doesn't want to move anything because that is how his mother placed it. the fact that 'it withers so' means it could look messy and unkempt. home is so sad because the actual building stays the same even though someone has died. 'shaped to the comfort of the last to go'.