arrivals, departures

Question 1

what is the poem about?

Answer 1

difficulty of upcoming opportunity

Question 2

channel boats

Answer 2

narrow boats - biographical element tform living in belfast - ports

Question 3

sildling

Answer 3

beginning of smth new - metaphor

Question 4

slackened engines gliding

Answer 4

opportunities sneak up on us

Question 5

knocking
blurting

Answer 5

salesman represents a man of opportunity

Question 6

we

Answer 6

collective pronoun - human nature to respond to choice

Question 7

recalled from sleep

Answer 7

we make unconscious decisions

Question 8

doleful distance

Answer 8

overwhelmed w choice - unease making a decision
did you make the right choice

Question 9

horny dilemmas

Answer 9

sometimes solve our dilemmas with base desires specifically sexual instincts and desire

Question 10

come and choose wrong, they cry

Answer 10

making decisions bring anguish and fear

Question 11

italics

Answer 11

voice of society

Question 12

nudged from comfort

Answer 12

suggests aftermath of making choice
we feel a subtle sense of unease

Question 13

knowing, blowing going

Answer 13

rhyming triplet - speeds pace of the poem
emphatic of the fleeting nature of opportunity

Question 14

what does the departing ship represent

Answer 14

departing opportunities

Question 15

context

Answer 15

larkin living in hull and belfast - both port cities
influences nautical imagery
sad eyed realism
movement poetry