Philip+Larkin





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Philip Arthur Larkin was born on August 9, 1922. He attended the King Henry VIII, and worked on the school magazine. Afterwards he attended St. John's College in Oxford, England. He found his first success with the publications when his poem 'Ultimatum' was accepted by and printed in the //Listener// on November 28, 1940. He established credibility with the publication of his poetry collections //The Less Deceived//, //The Whitsun Weddings//, and //High Windows//. He was also a critic of American Jazz. Near the end of his life he won many awards such as the CBE in 1975, the German Shakespeare-Pries in 1976, and an honorary D.Litt. from Oxford University in 1984. He was well-revered and had many titles as well. He served panels such as the Literature Panel of the Arts between 1980 and 1982, and the Booker Prize Panel and ranked as a professor in the University of Hull (PhilipLarkinSociety). Philip Larkin was made an Honorary Fellow of the Library Association in 1980. In 1984, he was elected to the Board of British Library, than he was offered a chance to succeed as Poet Laureate but he declined (Philip Larkin Society). In 1985 he was admitted to the hospital because of an illness of his throat. Than, he was awarded the Order of the Companion award, but because of his illness he could not attend (PhilipLarkinSociety). Philip died of cancer at the age of 63 on December 2nd, 1985. ======

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Philip Larkin had an underlying obsession with universal themes of morality, love, and human solitude. Larkin based his writing style fundamentally on the poetic works of Thomas Hardy, who ironically was not known for his poetry. He enjoyed Hardy's poetry and tried to copy the style almost verbatim with the exception of his unique and famous dark humor. As Larkin developed as a poet he became well known for his ability of rhyme, enjambment and meter, also his structure of his poems, and how they seemed to relate to nature (New World Encyclopedia). However, his poems do not utilize rhyming mechanisms but instead try to follow the careful placement of simple, but not simplfied, language. His style somehow though eloquent seem unstructured, and this is because he preferred simplicity in his language and broken narratives. Indeed he would often leave portions of his stories blank so they could be interpreted more loosely although they always follow an explicit theme (Larkin Study Notes). Death, failing romance, and the decay of mankind make up some his favorite themes (New World Encyclopedia). Larkin is known for using vulgar language in trying to get his point across, especially in his collection of poems //High Windows// (Don W. King). He was especially well-known for his ability to bring humor to the dark side of poetry, and he is remembered with due respect as one of the most insightful, and funny poets of all time. During Larkin’s time of writing a large group of writers including Larkin, was considered part of the Movement. The movement was a reaction to extreme Romanticism of an earlier major movement in British Poetry. The poets among this movement had a writing style opposite of romanticism. This great interest in the Movement among people helped create a large following for Larkin into the 1990’s, as the American influence of poetry began to develop more, and have a strong showing in his work. The work of the movement really helped influence Philip Larkin as a poet to develop a more Americanized style of poetry. (New World Encyclopedia) ======

Sunny Prestatyn
// Come To Sunny Prestatyn // Laughed the girl on the poster, Kneeling up on the sand In tautened white satin. Behind her, a hunk of coast, a Hotel with palms Seemed to expand from her thighs and Spread breast-lifting arms.

She was slapped up one day in March. A couple of weeks, and her face Was snaggle-toothed and boss-eyed; Huge tits and a fissured crotch Were scored well in, and the space Between her legs held scrawls That set her fairly astride A tuberous cock and balls

Autographed //Titch Thomas,// while Someone had used a knife Or something to stab right through The moustached lips of her smile. She was too good for this life. Very soon, a great transverse tear Left only a hand and some blue. Now //Fight Cancer// is there.


 * Analysis by: Nick Olivier**

In this poem, Philip Larkin is talking about a poster of a woman in lingerie that was destroyed and vandalized by someone. He seems to be sexually attracted to the woman and views her as a sex object instead of a person. He also expresses his dislike for society at the time and shows us this with an innocent picture being destroyed. He also dislikes the how the woman is portraying a superficial and unrealistic life style in the poster. It seems like Larkin doesn’t have a pleasant view on society based on this and other poems he has written.

Kissick, Gary. "They turn on Larkin." Antioch Review 52.1 (1994): 64. Sociological Collection. EBSCO. Web. 15 Apr. 2010. .

Home is So Sad
Home is so sad. It stays as it was left, Shaped in the comfort of the last to go As if to win them back. Instead, bereft Of anyone to please, it withers so, Having no heart to put aside the theft.

And turn again to what it started as, A joyous shot at how things ought to be, Long fallen wide. You can see how it was: Look at the pictures and the cutlery. The music in the piano stool. That vase.


 * Analysis by: Jon S.**

"Home is So Sad" personifies a house, a common property that most take for granted, in order to invoke greater appreciation and thought to its value and with good reason. A home is not simply something that should not be forgotten or disregarded as simply a place to live in. The majority of our memories were fabricated in our home. There is nothing that expresses us more completely than our house because it is filled with our life and our memories. Without us, there is no life in the home and it is simply a house. Although the story of the poem at first appears undivided, the message of the first stanza is different from the second. The first stanza handles how a house is an expression of whoever lives in it because the occupant is who makes the house a home. Everything inside the house is a product of the resident’s personality, needs and whims. The resident literally gives the home life. On the other hand, the second stanza deals with how a home occupies a sizable portion of our memory. A home will always stay with precedence in our recollection of the past because typically no significantly bad things happen to us in our home. “A joyous shot at how things ought to be” is exactly what a home is to us because it is a safe haven that understands us and that we understand. On a bad day, our home has always been there for us with its consolation, its comfort and the personality that we mutually share with it. For these reasons, our home stays in the brightest section of our memory just like we once stayed in its rooms. It is generally agreed that Larkin is "an unrelievedly pessimistic poet" (Don W. King), but it is unfair to condemn his entire collection as a product of incurable pessimism. Externally, "Home is So Sad" sounds like it would fit the mold, but instead it shows a type of beauty that would only be incorrectly filed under pessimism because he paints the picture of a home being a place of good memories and serenity. His poems are the written reflections of his personal experiences (Don W. King), and this poem seems to encapsulate happy memories. His tone and style might be gloomy, but the message in this poem is not.

King, Don W. "Sacramentalism in the Poetry of Philip Larkin." Montreat College. 1994. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. .

This be the verse
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 soppy-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 don't have any kids yourself.


 * Analysis by: Cody Stipcic**

Philip Larkin is very well known for using controversial themes. Many times the first line would start with an explicit word that would catch the reader’s attention. This made the poems seem very aggressive and it kept you reading. Philip’s poems could not be included in the newspaper unless sometimes heavily revised to be somewhat appropriate for public viewing. One of Britain's most well known modern poets could not be quoted on American television (Slate). "This be the Verse" poem strikes at the youth of his time. It also warns against being trapped into marriage in the last line. The first line is a play on words, because it is literally what parents do to make a baby (British Poetry). The poem starts very angrily but seems to calm towards the end, Philip uses much control with this and the poem calms down when it comes to its conclusion. Even with so much aggression, the words flow perfectly, and the poem fits the requirements of meter and iambic tetrameter (British Poetry). In many of Philip's poems, he used sexism, racism, and much profanity.

Reasons For Attendance
The trumpet's voice, loud and authoritative, Draws me a moment to the lighted glass To watch the dancers - all under twenty-five - Solemnly on the beat of happiness.

Or so I fancy, sensing the smoke and sweat, The wonderful feel of girls. Why be out there ? But then, why be in there? Sex, yes, but what Is sex ? Surely to think the lion's share Of happiness is found by couples - sheer

Inaccuracy, as far as I'm concerned. What calls me is that lifted, rough-tongued bell (Art, if you like) whose individual sound Insists I too am individual. It speaks; I hear; others may hear as well,

But not for me, nor I for them; and so With happiness. Therefor I stay outside, Believing this, and they maul to and fro, Believing that; and both are satisfied, If no one has misjudged himself. Or lied.


 * Analysis by: Chuck Seacrist**

Philip Larkin to many people would seem to be a very vulgar poet who seems to have an obsession with the pornagraphic side of poetry. The poem "Reasons For Attendance" is a good example of this side of Larkin. This poem discusses the life as a man who enjoys watching strippers, or exotic dancers. This man has the conflict though of hiding this obsession with society, therefore he deals with ways to hide his identity.(Bayley).This poem shows the constant intrerest that Larkin with the sexual side of society. "Reasons For Attendance" is a poem that helps depict the era that Larkin lived in. Larkin as a middle age man wrote alot of his poetry during the sex age of the United States.( LiteraryHistory.com). This poems relates to that time period really well because it discuss the urge of a man to physically pleasure himself by seeing naked women and having sexual thoughts about them. Philip Larkin all in all was a very controversial poet with a constant writing style of sexual inuendos.

Cooper, Stephen. "Philip Larkin - Stephen Cooper." //Sussex Academic Press -- The Home of Scholarly and Academic Publishing//. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. .

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//Works Cited//

Bloomfield, Jem. "This Be The Verse by Philip Larkin." //Suite101//. 28 Sept. 2007. Web. 15 Apr. 2010. .

Burt, Stephen. "The Poet of Dirty Words." //Slate//. 27 May 2004. Web. 15 Apr. 2010. . King, Don W. "Sacramentalism in the Poetry of Philip Larkin." Montreat College. 1994. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. .

Orwin, James L. "PHILIP LARKIN (1922-85)." The Philip Larkin Society. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. .

"Larkin Study Notes." Chaeron.net. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. .

"Philip Larkin." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. .

"Philip Larkin." New World Encyclopedia. 29 Aug. 2008. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. .

Kissick, Gary. "They turn on Larkin." Antioch Review 52.1 (1994): 64. Sociological Collection. EBSCO. Web. 15 Apr. 2010. .

Cooper, Stephen. "Philip Larkin - Stephen Cooper." //Sussex Academic Press -- The Home of Scholarly and Academic Publishing//. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. .