Analysis Of Social Life By Philip Larkin

Being punished as a young child, life seemed harsh and uneasy. The way parents would yell at you, tell you what to do, what not to do, and they always seemed to have gotten in the way of doing what us children wanted to do. It was all done for a reason however. The "cruelty" our parents showed us was out of love. They just want to use their experience to help guide our lives to success. With their guidance we are given opportunities to change some of the things we do for the better. Parents were raised a generation before us, therefore making them not as "chat-friendly" as someone whose our age. Mom and dad have helped in so many ways that we would not be able to name them all. From teaching us about nutrition to what words not to

The poem is somewhat ironic in that it talks death and the drinker being ostracized from society, both very cold subjects.

A common theme throughout the poem is the coping mechanism used for his troubled relationship. He does not view his alcoholism as a fault, but as a comfort and an escape. He yearns “to sleep beneath a patchwork quilt of rum”. (Clarke 6) Furthermore, he wishes to drink until he is unaware that his relationship is troubled. He wishes for “the slow collapse of language / [w]ashed out by alcohol.” (Clarke 7-8) He desires to detach, and isolate himself from the situation mentally, rather than remove himself physically. This suggests that he has no wish to recover from his alcoholism, and no desire to leave his

He describes the dresses and the cheep fabrics of “nylon” and fake colours “lemons mauves and olives” and from the way he uses foods can be interpreted to have a significant symbolic meaning in the sense that these organic foods become out of date in time, which could be suggesting he has a bitter opinion on marriage that it will soon become dull over time and never last. In the penultimate stanza he writes how “none thought of the others they would never meet or how their lives would all contain this hour” he really expresses Larkin’s view on marriage and commitment, as he appears to feel that marriage limits chances and options it also raises the question as to whether he feared marriage and the change it could have on his life and freedom. This would suggest that as opposed to hating marriage Larkin merely feared it. The line “ sun destroys the interest of what’s happening in the shade” metaphorically could be interpreted to show how fabulous display of a wedding can “destroy” or distract what happened out of view from the public like the stress, disputes and reality of faults in the relationship. The imagery of the sun also creates a bright beautiful link with weddings that people see on the surface juxtaposed with the reality of dullness as the years go on.

Peter King’s comment on Phillip Larkin’s novel is reasonable because Larkin’s main themes are about death and failure. It is possible to outline both sides of the argument and Larkin’s use of imagery and characterisation supports this.

This poem talks about nature and death. William Cullen Bryant shares that nature can make death less painful. He says that when we start to think about death, we should go outside, and look around and listen to the natural earth sounds. This is supposed to remind us that when we die, we will mix back into the earth. The poem tells us that when we die, we will not be alone. We will be with every other person that has ever been buried, In the ground, which in this poem is called the “great tomb of man”. It also tells us that even those that are still living will soon die and join in the great tomb of man. This poem is meant to comfort those that are afraid of dying and death in general. At the end of the poem, we are told to think of death as

On the other hand, Rubia expresses her perspective of how one should flow with the cycle of life, seen when the speaker “would not wish it” (line 2) any other way then him, an anonymous character, going gently into that good night, completely unlike Thomas. The slight character personality description given in stanza 2 allows the reader to understand this man as one who gently approaches, rather than raging. Instead of fighting for more, he is willing to cherish what he is given, and deal with obstacles humorously. Applying this character description to the remainder of the poem, it can be inferred that the poet is trying to convey her feelings regarding death. It is to be taken as it comes, similarly to how this gentle character goes seemingly without any tantrums or qualms into the phenomena of death. Thereby, Rubia views death as inevitable and something to be gently embraced, similarly to that of the cycle of life, where as Thomas sees it as an obstacle and heinous; it is a Minotaur that must be fought violently against. Rubia is settled with the understanding that life ends, therefore adopting a more mature perspective in comparison to Thomas, who, like an optimistic child wishing for another answer, refuses to accept that life co-exists with death.

In the first part of the poem the writer shows the difficulty he is having with taking a human life. In the second stanza he says “Making night work for us the starlight scope bringing men into killing range. This dark tone helps to emphasize the struggle the author is feeling as a soldier in war. Also he shows his emotions directly. In stanza 3 he says “The river under Vi Bridge takes the heart away”. This quote shows the feeling that the author gets

people go through in life. The poem addresses a scenario where people result to death as a way

Compare this to Dannie Abse’s “Imitations”. The poem centres on Abse’s thoughts about his son and how he has become an adolescent. Although the poem is rather negative, describing his son as a “chameleon” therefore suggesting his son is changing. However unlike in “Whitsun Weddings” is less pessimistic, saying that although he will die like his son his family name will be passed down the generations and expresses some affection for his offspring, whereas Larkin has no such optimism, he focuses on the fact that he has no son and probably never will, much like in Larkin’s “Dockery and Son” where he contemplates his lack of contribution to his species existence of how his life when he dies will cease to have meaning.

The Poem begins with a personification of death as "kindly" (3). By doing this, the speaker introduces a portrayal on death that might have conflictions. Most of the times, death has a negative connotation. Whether it is an inevitable or tragic view, it opposes to what is seen in the poem. The speaker accepts death as a friendly invitation when the time is right, rather than something that is bound to happen. The speaker then joins immortality, personified as a passenger in a carriage. Immortality simply cannot be a passenger as it is a non-living thing. The reasoning for this could be that immortality ties together the link between the speaker and death, ultimately introducing the voyage to come. The first stanza sets a precedent of a meter to follow throughout most of the poem. The first line contains eight

I think that the poet is trying to tell us to live life to the fullest

People would not want to hear that their loved ones merely gave up and died passively. This poem in itself is a celebration of life, the poem is not only about death but it is an affirmation of life. To further emphasise the points being made Dylan Thomas utilises a wide range of literary devices. Parallelism is used from lines seven to fifteen to juxtapose the different attitudes of the so called “genres” of men at their death. This is used to outline that if you continuously lead one set type of lifestyle whether it is as a “wild man”, a “grave man” or a “good man” you will not be satisfied when your time comes to die. The only true way to be satisfied is to live a life of balance; only with a good contrast can you be at peace.

Poetry is an art form that has often been highly regarded. It brings together some of the most complex forms of writing in the English language. Two poems that focus on the same topic may sometimes, have completely different views and provide perspectives that may not have been considered by the other. Two of these Poems are Let Me Die A Youngman’s Death by Roger McGough and On Death by Anne Killigrew. The former poem by Roger McGough talks of how the speaker does not wish to die the peaceful death of an elderly person but rather the chaotic death of a young man. In death is nothing at all the speaker proposes that all should be as happy as before his death, and not view it in such a negative and secretive light.

The Recurring Theme of Death in the Poetry of Philip Larkin. In reading the poetry of Philip Larkin for the first time, one is struck by the characteristically glum atmosphere that pervades most of his poems. The vast majority of his verse is devoted to what is generally taken to be negative aspects of life, such as loneliness and dejection, disappointments, loss, and the terrifying prospect of impending death. Evidently, there are uplifting and humorous sides to his work as well, but for certain reasons Larkin is invariably identified with a downhearted, pessimistic temper and tone of voice, conveying a constant sense of failure and of disappointment that underlies all the more specific emotions and reflections of individual