14080923
Description
Mind Map by Grace Fawcitt, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Grace Fawcitt
almost 6 years ago
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Philip Larkin- The Whitsun Weddings
collection summary
- The Importance of
Elsewhere
- The speaker muses on the feeling of being a
stranger in a foreign place as helping define his
identity in a way he actually craves:
paradoxically, he only feels at home, elsewhere.
- The speaker muses on the feeling of being a
stranger in a foreign place as helping define his
identity in a way he actually craves:
paradoxically, he only feels at home, elsewhere.
- Here
- This poem- in almost one unbroken
sentence- traces the speaker's train
journey from country- town,
town-country, observing the fleeting
images of life and nature. When we
finally reach the unnamed 'here', the
loneliness and absence described
actually seem to be the states sought by
the traveller. In this space of 'unfenced
existence' along with other hidden and
unseen things, the speaker and his art
can blossom.
- This poem- in almost one unbroken
sentence- traces the speaker's train
journey from country- town,
town-country, observing the fleeting
images of life and nature. When we
finally reach the unnamed 'here', the
loneliness and absence described
actually seem to be the states sought by
the traveller. In this space of 'unfenced
existence' along with other hidden and
unseen things, the speaker and his art
can blossom.
- Self's the
Man
- A wry and humourous jibe at 'Arnold' and his
demanding family, taking the role of a
condescending observer, the speaker
denigrates the marriage of the hapless Arnold.
However, by stanza 7, the poem becomes less
resolute in its position of the horrors to be
found in marriage: the speaker reflects and
ponders if Arnold is in fact 'less selfish' or, if
selfishness drives both men. The final lines
seems to suggest that although chosen,
loneliness could equally drive a person mad.
- A wry and humourous jibe at 'Arnold' and his
demanding family, taking the role of a
condescending observer, the speaker
denigrates the marriage of the hapless Arnold.
However, by stanza 7, the poem becomes less
resolute in its position of the horrors to be
found in marriage: the speaker reflects and
ponders if Arnold is in fact 'less selfish' or, if
selfishness drives both men. The final lines
seems to suggest that although chosen,
loneliness could equally drive a person mad.
- Reference
Back
- This poem is based on Larkin's mother. After
his father died, he would regularly visit her,
but the poem shows the speaker received little
pleasure from the experience. She attempts to
communicate with him via music, but the
poem is about the disconnection between the
son and mother, young and old, and the
inevitability of change in their relationship
- This poem is based on Larkin's mother. After
his father died, he would regularly visit her,
but the poem shows the speaker received little
pleasure from the experience. She attempts to
communicate with him via music, but the
poem is about the disconnection between the
son and mother, young and old, and the
inevitability of change in their relationship
- Home is So Sad
- This short, poignant poem is a statement
on what happens not only after children
grow up and leave their family home, but
also when home comes to represent not
fond nostalgia, but instead pain and
regret at a happiness that is never fully
realised. It appears to be a comment on
the failure of family to live up to
expectations.
- This short, poignant poem is a statement
on what happens not only after children
grow up and leave their family home, but
also when home comes to represent not
fond nostalgia, but instead pain and
regret at a happiness that is never fully
realised. It appears to be a comment on
the failure of family to live up to
expectations.
- Nothing to be Said
- The speaker reflects on the inevitability of death; inescapable,
traumatic and rendering much of life seemingly futile
- The speaker reflects on the inevitability of death; inescapable,
traumatic and rendering much of life seemingly futile
- Broadcast
- As close as Larkin gets to a love poem; the speaker is
listening to a broadcast of a concert, yet is desperate to
pick out his lover within the distracting noise. In a world
of discordant chaos, she stands for beauty and purity.
- As close as Larkin gets to a love poem; the speaker is
listening to a broadcast of a concert, yet is desperate to
pick out his lover within the distracting noise. In a world
of discordant chaos, she stands for beauty and purity.
- MCMXIV
- 1914- beginning with the image of men waiting in line at
the recruiting office to join up, the speaker muses on
the coming end to the innocence of both them, Britain
and Europe more widely due to the horrors of WW1.
- 1914- beginning with the image of men waiting in line at
the recruiting office to join up, the speaker muses on
the coming end to the innocence of both them, Britain
and Europe more widely due to the horrors of WW1.
- Mr Bleaney
- The speaker imagines the former occupant of the
room he is renting- marvels in his small and
mundane existence. However, he then reflects
that perhaps his life is not much different.
- The speaker imagines the former occupant of the
room he is renting- marvels in his small and
mundane existence. However, he then reflects
that perhaps his life is not much different.
- The Whitsun
Weddings
- A train journey to London on Whitsun: a bank holiday on which the
government suspended marriage taxes. The poem on a surface level is a
description of the experiences of that day- his description of physical
appearances of those couples and their relatives is full of mockery. But
towards the end of the poem, the poet realises the importance of marriage-
it brings new life, and so, in a sense, is a way of cheating death.
- A train journey to London on Whitsun: a bank holiday on which the
government suspended marriage taxes. The poem on a surface level is a
description of the experiences of that day- his description of physical
appearances of those couples and their relatives is full of mockery. But
towards the end of the poem, the poet realises the importance of marriage-
it brings new life, and so, in a sense, is a way of cheating death.
- Take One Home for the
Kiddies
- The speaker imagines the cruelty we inflict on animals in a pet
store and as such serves as a critique on consumerism: the
children's pleading for a 'living toy' is juxtaposed by the seemingly
casual sadism as the pet dies
- The speaker imagines the cruelty we inflict on animals in a pet
store and as such serves as a critique on consumerism: the
children's pleading for a 'living toy' is juxtaposed by the seemingly
casual sadism as the pet dies
- Talking in Bed
- The speaker muses on the fact that at this moment of
intimacy- in bed with a lover- communication should be at its
simplest: yet, his anxiety and discomfort at the intimacy
means he lies in silence to avoid dishonesty or cruelty
- The speaker muses on the fact that at this moment of
intimacy- in bed with a lover- communication should be at its
simplest: yet, his anxiety and discomfort at the intimacy
means he lies in silence to avoid dishonesty or cruelty
- Sunny Prestatyn
- A poster of a girl is described then we see her defaced: the
metaphor serves as a comment on the fictionalised world of
advertising and how the imagery it presents is in antithesis to the
reality of working class poverty. This disparity provokes aggression.
- A poster of a girl is described then we see her defaced: the
metaphor serves as a comment on the fictionalised world of
advertising and how the imagery it presents is in antithesis to the
reality of working class poverty. This disparity provokes aggression.
- First Sight
- A hopeful poem in which lambs are used as a symbol of
the seasonal change from winter to spring, death to life
- A hopeful poem in which lambs are used as a symbol of
the seasonal change from winter to spring, death to life
- As Bad a A Mile
- This short poem takes the simple failure to throw an
apple core in a bin as a metaphor for failure generally
and reflects on the moment of potential- the unbitten
apple- before failure taints and cripples the psyche.
- This short poem takes the simple failure to throw an
apple core in a bin as a metaphor for failure generally
and reflects on the moment of potential- the unbitten
apple- before failure taints and cripples the psyche.
- Toads
Revisited
- The speaker observes the unemployed walking around
the park- his acerbic tone leaves no doubt that he looks
down on these people 'too stupid or weak' to work. The
speaker himself relishes not only the authority and status
that work provides, but also the distraction it affords him
from the crippling awareness of his own mortality
- The speaker observes the unemployed walking around
the park- his acerbic tone leaves no doubt that he looks
down on these people 'too stupid or weak' to work. The
speaker himself relishes not only the authority and status
that work provides, but also the distraction it affords him
from the crippling awareness of his own mortality
- Afternoons
- The speaker observes young mothers in
the park and reflects on what he deems
their disconnection from their own
lives due to the mundane routine of
kids, husbands and domestic work
- The speaker observes young mothers in
the park and reflects on what he deems
their disconnection from their own
lives due to the mundane routine of
kids, husbands and domestic work
- Essential Beauty
- Building on the themes in Sunny Prestatyn, here a deluge of advertising is
used to counterpoint the reality of people's lives and comment on the fact
that the adverts are not only unrealistic,but damaging in their false promises.
- Building on the themes in Sunny Prestatyn, here a deluge of advertising is
used to counterpoint the reality of people's lives and comment on the fact
that the adverts are not only unrealistic,but damaging in their false promises.
- A Study of Reading
Habits
- The speaker's absorption in childish fantasy fiction at first provides him with the
shield to attempt to cope with the trauma of bullies and school. As the poem
progresses so does the speaker's reading habits. Absorbed now in gothic fiction,
his fantastical assertions about his sexual prowess become amusingly surreal.
However, his eventual disappointment in the escapism that literature can provide
results in his dismissal of books in favour of alcohol to numb his despondency
- The speaker's absorption in childish fantasy fiction at first provides him with the
shield to attempt to cope with the trauma of bullies and school. As the poem
progresses so does the speaker's reading habits. Absorbed now in gothic fiction,
his fantastical assertions about his sexual prowess become amusingly surreal.
However, his eventual disappointment in the escapism that literature can provide
results in his dismissal of books in favour of alcohol to numb his despondency
- Wild
Oats
- Ironically titled, the speaker comments on two girls he knew in
the past: although attracted to one, his paranoia and anxiety
meant he felt she was 'above' him so he dates her friend. His
apparent disregard for the 'girl in specs',despite an engagement,
is compounded by the fact that he still- perhaps voyeuristically,
perhaps hopefully- carries pictures of her friend.
- Ironically titled, the speaker comments on two girls he knew in
the past: although attracted to one, his paranoia and anxiety
meant he felt she was 'above' him so he dates her friend. His
apparent disregard for the 'girl in specs',despite an engagement,
is compounded by the fact that he still- perhaps voyeuristically,
perhaps hopefully- carries pictures of her friend.
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