facts

Question 1

what did larkin say in his diary about marriage?

Answer 1

‘let me remember the only married state I know is bloody hell’.

Question 2

What was Larkin’s view on the post-WWII marriage boom?

Answer 2

Larkin believed those who married post-WWII did so for legal purposes and convenience rather than love

Larkin had a cynical view of this behavior.

Question 3

How did Larkin’s parents’ marriage influence him?

Answer 3

Larkin’s parents endured a difficult marriage, which he keenly felt

This experience is explored in his poem ‘This Be The Verse’.

Question 4

What is a notable line from Larkin’s poem ‘This Be The Verse’?

Answer 4

‘They fuck you up, your mum and dad.’

Question 5

Did Larkin ever marry or have children?

Answer 5

No, Larkin never married or had children

He commented in his diary about marriage being ‘bloody hell’.

Question 6

What term did Larkin use to describe his own literary work?

Answer 6

‘Sad-eyed realism’

This term refers to poetry depicting the pain, uncertainty, and compromise of everyday life.

Question 7

when did larkin write places, loved ones?

Answer 7

in 1954 after making the decision to move from Belfast to Hull.​ Like the speaker, he had no solid sense of home at the time.

Question 8

how many times did larkin move 1943-1955?

Answer 8

Larkin moved home 5 times between 1943 and 1955 (Oxford, Wellington, Leicester, Belfast and Hull).​

Question 9

who was larkin’s first relationship with?

Answer 9

Ruth Bowman – they were briefly engaged but this was broken off when he moved to Belfast. ​

Question 10

who was larkin’s longest relationship with?

Answer 10

Monica Jones, which spanned nearly 40 years from 1946-1985 – when Larkin died. He never married.​

Question 11

how is thomas hardy linked to coming?

Answer 11

Larkin alludes to the Darkling Thrush; here, the idea of hope is presented, but from an unknown source, or something that is not understood: ‘some blessed Hope, whereof he knew / And I was unaware’

Question 12

give a quote from the darkling thrush

Answer 12

‘some blessed Hope, whereof he knew / And I was unaware’

Question 13

how did larkin reject romanticism?

Answer 13

• Larkin interpreted modern reality with a realistic, clear, colloquial style that discarded both Romanticism and Modernism. This gives Larkin’s poetry a kind of simplicity and accessibility.
• In Romantic poetry, the poet engages in a deep philosophising over the soul and sublime landscapes. Larkin’s poetry is also personal, but he never highlights a sage-like wisdom in the speaker.

Question 14

how did larkin react to being offered the status of poet laureate

Answer 14

said to Kingsley Amis, ‘I wake up screaming’

Question 15

what was the movement and what did they believe/write about

Answer 15

• The Movement rejected experimental modernism which they saw as pretentious and disconnected from everyday reality.
• Their work was unsentimental, rational, and rooted in a nostalgic idea of English identity, and they favoured poetry that used traditional forms and structures
• Larkin’s poetry conveys the quality of ordinary life; dreary routine existence, dissatisfaction, dreams and ideals beyond the grasp of the common man, occasionally ‘surprised’ by happiness; portrays life as meagre, disappointing

Question 16

why did larkin have a pre occupation with death

Answer 16

Larkin’s poems were written in the shadow of WWII – an event which led to a significant loss of life – and just before The Cold War, when nuclear testing was becoming more common – foreshadowing further loss of life. This helps to explain Larkin’s focus on death and mortality in various poems from The Less Deceived. ​

Question 17

how did Mid-Century Expectations & 1950s consumer culture affect larkin’s poetry

Answer 17

• The changing landscape of world politics and Britain’s difficult financial position meant that the British empire was slowly being dismantled. This led to a change in Britain’s national identity as it became much less influential
• People also felt a renewed sense of optimism, seeing the post-war period as a chance to start again and make Britain a more equal country; perhaps this led Larkin to think people were always expecting too much of the future and not facing the current realities
• painful austerity of post-war years, made worse by contemporary hopes for a rapid transformation and opening-up of a stagnant society that were never met in full measure
• The influence of the ideology of the American Dream also started to influence British thinking and culture
• Larkin transparently belongs to a generation who hoped for much after the war, and were disappointed; his disappointment did not make him angry, but contributed to a strong but gentle irony; any ideal exists only to be betrayed, and therefore perhaps it is better not to have ideals at all

Question 18

when were larkin’s poems published

Answer 18

Larkin only published three main volumes of poetry during his lifetime: The Less Deceived (1955), The Whitsun Weddings (1964), and High Windows (1974)

Question 19

what was larkin’s nickname?

Answer 19

the hermit of hull

Question 20

what award was larkin given

Answer 20

a CBE for his contribution to literature

Question 21

what was larkin’s relationship to winifred arnott

Answer 21

Much to Larkin’s disappointment, his relationship with Winifred Arnott was never romantic - she later became engaged to another man.

Question 22

who was sally amis

Answer 22

Larkin and Amis met at St John’s College, Oxford, and became life long friends. Larkin dedicates his poem ‘Born Yesterday’ to Amis’ daughter, Sally.

Question 23

what was larkin’s opinion of time

Answer 23

kLarkin once said time ‘erodes, spoils and disappoints’, a sentiment which is clearly portrayed in Larkin’s exploration of the transformative influence of time in No Road.​

Question 24

describe larkin’s relationship with ruth bowman

Answer 24

Larkin had several relationships with women throughout his life. Larkin’s first relationship was with Ruth Bowman. Larkin and Bowman were briefly engaged, but this was broken off when he moved to Belfast in 1950.

Question 25

when was no road written

Answer 25

1951 - he broke up with ruth bowman in 1950 as he moved to belfast

Question 26

when did wwii end

Answer 26

1945

Question 27

when did the labour party come to power

Answer 27

1945

Question 28

when was the nhs created

Answer 28

1948

Question 29

when did food rationing end

Answer 29

1954

Question 30

when was The Less Deceived published

Answer 30

1955

Question 31

how did religion change in post-war britain

Answer 31

• mass death tested many people’s faith; Larkin would have been aware of this
• changing values of society after the war; sidelining of the church?
• people look for something to deal with big concepts post-war; turn to faith?

Question 32

what was larkin’s opinion of religion

Answer 32

• Despite identifying as a Conservative and typically celebrating traditional ideas, Larkin rejected the notion of God and organised religion.​
• Larkin’s father told him to ‘never believe in God’.
• ‘It’s absolutely amazing to think that anyone ever believed any of that … it’s absolute balls’.​

Question 33

give evidence that larkin was hard working

Answer 33

Larkin was known to be very hard-working, developing the library at Hull from a collection of rundown huts to a purpose-built facility with a staff and stock over 6 times larger than when he started

Question 34

what was larkin’s childhood like

Answer 34

• Although he was successful academically, Larkin suffered an isolated and somewhat lonely childhood, influenced by his distant, unintimate relationship with his mother and the domineering presence of his father.
• Larkin grew up in Coventry.

Question 35

what poem is i remember i remember based on

Answer 35

Hood’s 1826 poem ‘I Remember, I Remember’ is about the nostalgia of childhood & the desire to return to the past.​

Question 36

how does larkin change hood’s poem in i rememver i remember

Answer 36

Larkin borrows and inverts Hood’s title, exploring childhood from an opposite perspective; challenges the romanticism of Hood’s vision of childhood by proposing that our childhood is the creation of a glamourising memory which does not recall reality, but reconsitutes it through a haze of nostalgia

Question 37

how was larkin’s writing influenced by hardy

Answer 37

• Larkin’s writing was heavily influenced by Thomas Hardy.
• In ‘At Grass,’ Larkin utilises the prefix ‘un-‘ in the phrase ‘unmolesting meadows’; this is a technique typical of Hardy.
• Likewise, Larkin’s use of pastoral imagery throughout ‘At Grass’ mirrors Hardy’s own pastoral writing.

Question 38

how was larkin’s writing influenced by where he lived?

Answer 38

Most of the poems in The Less Deceived were written when Larkin was working as sub-librarian at Queen’s University in Belfast. It is notable that Larkin spent much of his life living in port cities, as several of his poems use nautical imagery. ​