The Recurring Theme of Death in the Poetry of Philip Larkin.

Robert Frost and William Shakespeare have been celebrated by many people because of their ability to express themselves through the written word. Here we are years after their deaths analyzing these fascinating poems about life and death. It’s clear they had similar thoughts about this subject at the time of these writings, even though their characters could not have been more opposite. For both poets, life is too

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.

In Thomas Gunn’s “Memory Unsettled”, the main speaker visits a dying friend in a hospital bed. The poem is delivered in second person which indicates the reader will be pushed to feel personally involved with the poet’s characters. By stating “Your” (76. 1) the poet allows the reader to vividly imagine the pain such character may be feeling. As the visitor intends to comfort his dying friend the reader acknowledges a bittersweet moment, by inferring the “pain” has not “ended” (76. 1-4). By depicting positive characteristics of a legitimate friend through word choice and phrases, as well as using rhyme scheme to show the symbolic meaning of sticking together, the poet establishes a sorrowful yet optimistic mood about dying.

Mortality is a moving and compelling subject. This end is a confirmation of one’s humanity and the end of one’s substance. Perhaps that is why so many writers and poets muse about their own death in their writings. Keats and John Donne are two such examples of musing poets who share the human condition experience in When I Have Fears and Holy Sonnet 1.

When the subject of death is addressed by poets Larkin and Abse they imply that death is a certain and predetermined demise to our lives. However through analysing there style of poetic writing, readers can appreciate their different attitudes towards death. Larkin appears accepting of death, acknowledging fate in a realistic way. Abse however is emotionally impacted and overall unaccepting of the part it plays in our lives.

Though in stark contrast to the first stanza in form, the two-part second stanza continues with this disconnect of death from the subject in the poem. Each part begins with an emotionally-charged direct address to a male subject using expletive language. The speaking voice is conceivably appealing to both the functional presence of the dead man and every other man who fits into the category of the “executive type.” This stanza uses a type of call-and-response form as a rhetorical commentary on the nature of chance, a continuation of the stock market theme from

Death has inspired poets across time and space, language barriers, and cultures allowing them to create transcendent works that resonate with many individuals. Two poets whose works incorporate the theme of death are Dylan Thomas (1914-1953), a Welsh poet and writer, and Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), a Chilean poet, diplomat, and politician. Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," one of his most famous poems, focuses on Thomas's struggle to come to terms with his father's death. Neruda's poem, "The Dead Woman" focuses on the poets resolve to overcome the loss of the woman he loves. Both "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" and "The Dead Woman" demonstrate how each poet views death and how he is able to come to terms with the loss of a loved one.

The ways death is approached and depicted in literature are diverse and numerous. Not unlike the ways different religions throughout the world and history have interpreted, and continue to interpret, this inevitable phenomenon, art and literature offer a wide variety of views as to what happens after death and what dying means. Of course, there are some common threads and themes associated with dying that are frequently seen and used, both in prose and in poetry. The tropes of death are familiar and common, but each writer still brings its own vision and frames it in its own personal way. Ernest Dowson and Dylan Thomas are two writers who, while not separated by a long period of time, came from very different period and wrote in different literary movements. Despite those differences, they share some similarities in the way they chose to depict and portray death in their poetry. In the poems Do Not Go Gentle Into

Another interesting feature of the poem is the constant use of imagery, specifically light and dark. The speaker consistently refers to death as “night” (Meyer, 247), and clearly refers to life as “day” (Meyer, 247) and “light” (Meyer, 247). The speaker uses words like “burn”(Meyer, 247), “bright”(Meyer, 247), “sun”(Meyer, 248), and “blaze” (Meyer, 248) in lines discussing life. While this is common imagery for life and death, its use in this poem does not feel trite. Instead it leaves one with the feeling of deaths inevitability, as night always follows day. This lends itself heavily to the tone as the speaker grapples with his father’s impending death. The only comfort the speaker seems to be able to find is in the life his father lead. The use of such dichotomous imagery puts the tone in perspective. There are only two

Their faith is presented as being heavily deceptive, and their emotions described as “deep hoarse tears, as if a kind of dumb / And idiot child within them survives” (14-15). The portrayal of these religious people presents in the mind of the reader an image of a completely ignorant dunce, or even a jackass, whereas describing their tears as “hoarse,” was a homophone likely chosen with malicious intent. Larkin’s fear of death contributes not only to his depiction of religion, but also his struggle to accept it, seeing as he viewed religion unable to save people from suffering and death. The poem “Aubade” describes at length the speaker’s struggle and fear of death and how he feels “religion in the past or rational thinking in the modern world of science can by no means drive away…” their imminent death (Bao 189). The speaker is paralyzed by the thought of “unresting death” that is “a whole day nearer” every day he comes home from work (5). In the extremely morbid last stanza of the poem the speaker proclaims his belief that “no trick dispels” death, and that “religion used to try” (22), further showing that “the only real obstacle between Larkin and faith is his inability to accept death as part of the divine plan” (Schray 56). Considering Larkin to be an atheist however is not the most accurate representation of the poet, and his frequent use of religion, as dire as it may be, indicates a more complicated notion.

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.

Philip Larkin uses a bitter tone throughout his poem to represent the resentful feelings that the speaker has towards believing in God. For example, “Once I am sure there’s nothing going on I step inside, letting the door thud shut, Another Church”. Here he is showing his doubts of walking into the church. He checks to make sure nothing or nobody sees him walking inside as though they might see him as a religious man. Later Larkin says, “I sign the book,

Walcott, Derek, The Master of the Ordinary: Philip Larkin, What The Twilight Says, (London: Faber and Faber Ltd, 1998).

In the first stanza of the poem, Larkin sets us in the middle of mundane middle class English social life. He notes that we involve ourselves in all sorts of socializing; but even though we fill up our time with such social activities, Larkin suggests that such a life is empty and that although we disguise it from ourselves, underneath we really want to be alone. In the second stanza he extends the wish to be alone to its logical terminus, death. He suggests, then, that in spite of our social involvement we all have a death-wish within us and that immersing ourselves in the social round is harmful because it is a mechanism we use to prevent ourselves from coming to terms with death and our desire for it; i.e. we kill our natural awareness towards death and the temporal nature of life through indulgence in social traps.