“Larkin is a pessimistic rather than optimistic poet” – Discuss Larkin has been regarded as a pessimistic poet. Larkin surely takes a very dark view of human life. The main emphasis in his poem is on failure and frustration in human life. However Larkin is not a uniformly pessimistic poet. Some of his poems have a profoundly moral character‚ which expresses itself in the need to control and organize life‚ rather than submit to a pre-determined pattern of failure. There is generally a debate going
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Love and Marriage with Philip Larkin and Eavan Boland Ashley Couch Houghton College It is strange how time changes relationships. When I first started dating the man who is now my fiancée‚ one of my biggest fears was of walking down the aisle on our wedding day‚ feeling unsure that I was making the right decision by marrying him. Now what I most often fear for our relationship is falling out of love‚ as so many couples do. This is something I brood on‚ discuss‚ and develop intricate strategies against
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Throughout his works Philip Larkin shows the ‘emptiness that lies under all we do.’ The way we travel through life riding a wave of superficialities‚ too caught up in the moment to see what is really going on. Larkin aims to alleviate the blindness created by our deep involvement‚ attempting to draw the reader out to see the big picture. In Ambulances he acknowledges death as a device powerful enough to allow people to see beyond themselves and the things surrounding them. The thought of their impending
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At Grass By Philip Larkin Sound Devices & Rhythm Rhyme: Regular rhyme pattern: In each stanza‚ there are rhymes on alternate lines‚ forming a regular pattern of efgefg‚ hijhij etc. Such regularity seems to suggest a sense of restriction which echoes with the confinement human beings impose on the racing horses for the pleasure of human entertainment. Assonance: The use of repeated long vowels as in ‘shade’ (/ʃeɪd/)‚ ‘tail’ (/teɪl/)‚ ‘mane’ (/meɪn/) creates a gloomy atmosphere in the depiction of
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In the poem “At grass” by Philip Larkin the poet writes about his encounter with two retired horses. A passage of time is significant in this poem as it is only after the poet thinks back to what the horse’s life was like before it they retired that he has a change of mind and realises that they are probably better off now than they were in the past. The first hint that the poet gives us‚ is in his title of the poem “At Grass” as this gives the impression that the horses are at rest and away from
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This Be the Verse by Philip Larkin They fuck you up‚ your mum and dad. They may not mean to‚ but they do. They fill you with the faults they had And add some extra‚ just for you. But they were fucked up in their turn By fools in old-style hats and coats‚ Who half the time were sloppy-stern And half at one another’s throats. Man hands on misery to man. It deepens like a coastal shelf. Get out as early as you can‚ And
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can deny That Arnold is less selfish than I. But wait‚ not do fast: Is there such a contrast? He was out for his own ends Not just pleasing his friends; And if it was such a mistake‚ He still did it for his own sake‚ Playing his own game. So he and I are the same‚ Only I’m a better hand At knowing what I can stand! Here Swerving east‚ from rich industrial shadows And traffic all night north; swerving through fields Too thin and thistled to be called meadows‚ And now and then
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story is told by Larkin aged 40‚ when he is still unmarried‚ and in this poem‚ he looks back to is younger days when he was around 20 years old. The poem describes one of his relationships in which he failed miserably. 20 years on from this event‚ he still has photos from it‚ but not of the girl he had a relationship with‚ but of her prettier friend. This prettier friend is immediately described as "A bosomy English rose". This hints at how extremely beautiful she is and how Larkin considers her at
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In the poem “Toads” by Philip Larkin‚ a man who never makes himself known begins to talk about two toads. Although not being literal‚ the man uses toads as a metaphor for objects within his life which hold him back from feeling purely accomplished. The first toad that he speaks of is the influence and pressures which society forces on individuals to work. The second toad is one which he finds within his subconscious which prompts him to work and never quit‚ despite how bad he wants to. The man soon
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Larkin Poem Commentaries Here My feelings for ‘Here’ have much to do with the recent video prepared for the Larkin25 anniversary‚ which should be seen in conjunction with what I have to say here. Sir Tom Courtenay’s reading together with the images of Hull and its surrounding areas‚ leave me with the sense that while this is not just a hymn to Hull‚ although it is certainly that – and written when Larkin had first come the city – it is a place which is constantly surprising the poet by the interplay
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