What Is The Theme Of Larkin And Abse

An unknown author once wrote “Never take life too seriously; after all, no one gets out of it alive”. When reading this quote, there can almost be an immediate connection between two very good works of writing: Macbeth’s “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” speech from Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, and the poem “Out, Out --” by Robert Frost. Both allude to the idea that a single life, in its totality, denotes nothing, and eventually, everyone’s candle of life is blown out. However, each poet approaches this idea from opposite perspectives. Frost writes of a young, innocent boy whose life ends suddenly and unexpectedly. His poem is dry and lacks emotion from anyone

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.

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 word choice used in this poem helps to portray a mood of isolation. “And all I loved, I loved alone” (8). What the speaker is saying with this quote is that everything they found interest in, nobody else did, and therefore he had nobody to share their life experiences with. Even from a young age, the speaker felt as if he were an outcast. “Then- in my childhood, in the dawn/ Of a most stormy life- was drawn/ From every depth of good and ill/ The mystery which binds me still” (9-12). The speaker felt that they had no control over their fate. No matter what happened, whether it be good or bad, the speaker felt abandoned

Poets convey their ideas, thoughts and feelings through various structures and techniques. John Blights “Death of a Whale” (a modern sonnet) brings up the issue of death on a large scale, and how us humans have all got a cruel side to ourselves. Seamus Heaney’s “The Skylight” (also a modern sonnet) describes to the reader his battle to realisation with an installation of a sky light that his wife insists on. Both poems are modern sonnets using poetic language such as alliteration, personification and smilies to express their ideas vividly to the reader.

While reading the poems “Richard Cory” and “Ezra Farmer”, it is almost immediately evident which poem is an original and which is a parody. Both poems are clearly about men that are popular among those he meets, but once the reader looks beneath the surface, they notice how the diction plays an important role in relaying the theme to the audience it is presented to. In the poem “Richard Cory” written by Edwin Arlington Robinson, the theme being portrayed is that people are not always as how they seem.

Imagine ink like darkness for the rest of your life, never to see the light again. Imagine never hearing the words of love oozing out of your beloved’s mouth and wrapping your body with warming comfort. Imagine never feeling the gentle touch of a man or woman ever again. Imagine slumber but for eternity where your organs decay and you are no more than a mere frame of bones. Imagine death. Byron states, “all tragedies end in death” and I agree wholeheartedly. In prolonging unhappiness of life there is still peace that one’s life is still whole and that they are alive, however in death there is no light at the end of the tunnel, it is just pure darkness. Vivacious, colorful and musical, Moulin Rouge and dreary, dark and full of betrayal Shakespeare’s King Lear, though very contrasting texts have one thing in common, they both end in death. This essay shows the similarities between these two texts in order to prove that Byron’s statement “all tragedies end in death” is indeed true.

For instance, he sardonically quips that after he quits, “Maybe the mop / will push on without me . . . They will call it Jorge” (21-22, 24). Feeling disregarded, he believes no one would notice his disappearance so long as the mop continued moving. They would call the mop Jorge because, to them, the speaker is merely an object. Clearly, both poems’ speakers are unhappy with the lack of appreciation or even acknowledgement they receive for their

In the outback Australia people have to deal with this on a day to day basis. The harsh environment is what makes Australia, Australian. An example of the harsh environment in the poem ‘ Widower in the Country’ is the technique of alliteration in the line “The roof reflects the sun and makes my eyes”. This alliteration has been used to make people stop and think about the environment and what they have to deal with compared to Australia’s harsh outback climate. The alliteration grabs the readers attention and describes that the widow just wants to shut out the world. Another technique is done in the line “Coming on dark, I'll go home, light the lamp And eat my corned-beaf supper, sitting there”. This technique is emotive language. Emotive language is done by Les Murray because he wants to get the reader or listener to have an emotional reaction on what they're trying to say. Emotive language in this poem is done to persuade that the widow has a lack of emotion, hatred of living, no longer sees the need to live, there is no reason for his existence and no life. This is not what anyone wants to or should live

However, the poet's grief may be the result of a mix of reality and imagination.

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.

Larkin also comments on the future in the final stanza’s of both poems. In ‘An Arundel Tomb’ ‘what will survive us all is love’ implies that as long as the tomb endures then so with the couple’s love subsequently keeping them alive in people’s minds. In contrast to this optimism unusual for Larkin the quote may also suggest that the effigies are just that, there is no immortality provided by eternal love as they’ve still died and this predicament is a

The observation I found most interesting in the poem, “Singapore”, by Mary Oliver is an anomaly, in which she briefly deviates from the poem’s initial setting and subject and then seamlessly returns back to it. This interjection could at first be seen as nothing more than an unwarranted description of what the author feels poems should entail- birds, waterfalls, and happiness- but deeper analysis finds that this interruption is still applicable to the poem’s overall theme of life’s peculiar inequity. This is because the desire to, “...stand in a happy place, in a poem” that the author notes stems from her confusion and discomfort with the beautiful woman she finds scrubbing toilets (line 13). She feels the pretty woman deserves

To begin, Larkin repeats justifying phrases within his poem to convey both his theme and his tone. From the very beginning of the poem Larkin repeatedly tries to justify the behavior he is criticizing by employing

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