Larkin Context

Question 1

Lines on a Young lady’s photograph album

Answer 1

• about his companion, Winifred Arnott, who he developed a close romantic relationship but never had sexual relations
• Larkin enjoyed photography as a hobby

Question 2

Wedding wind

Answer 2

• Larkin had just left Wellington, leaving behind Ruth Bowman and unsure about if the relation would survive the separation
• Larkin had his own doubts about marriage perhaps due to his parents unhappy marriage

Question 3

Places, Loved ones

Answer 3

• prompted by the possibility of another move from where Larkin lived
  -Larkin had broken off many relationships perhaps because of the insecurities expressed in the poem

Question 4

Coming

Answer 4

• the symbol of the thrush was used by Hardy in his poem ‘The Darkling Thrush’ as a symbol of hope and a promise of happiness in the midst of dark times.
• The poem is likely set at the house where he spent most of his childhood in Manor Road, Coventry

Question 5

Reasons for attendance

Answer 5

• Larkin was a jazz fan and many of his poems reference the music that he listened to
• written whilst Larkin was working in Belfast at the Queen’s library

Question 6

Dry point

Answer 6

• ## engagement to Ruth Bowman had foundered shortly before this was written

Question 7

Next, please

Answer 7

• Larkin’s sister commented on the title saying it was a phrase dreaded by Larkin as it meant he had to reveal his stammer
• set in Queen’s University in Belfast, where Larkin moved to become a librarian

Question 8

Going

Answer 8

• Written in 1945 when Larkin was depressed due to difficulties in publishing his new novel
• Ruth Bowman turned 18 and moved to London to study at King’s college and their relation took new life

Question 9

Wants

Answer 9

• written in early 1950
• Larkin was living at home with his mother following the death of his father
• low point in his life
• his engagement with Ruth Bowman had broken apart and he had abandoned his ideas of being a novelist

Question 10

Maiden Name

Answer 10

• Larkin and Winifred had a close, romantic relationship but not a sexual one
• written after Winifred returned to England from Belfast to marry

Question 11

Whatever Happened?

Answer 11

• portrays his feelings after the relationship with Patsy Strong
• written towards the end of 1953, after his affair with Patsy Strang had ended

Question 12

No Road

Answer 12

• poem is addressed to Ruth Bowman and was written within g a few weeks of Larkin moving to Belfast leaving her behind

Question 13

Born yesterday

Answer 13

• about Kingsley Amis’ daughter, Sally Amis
• Larkin’s wishes for her in the poem did not come true she suffered from depression, alcoholism and was ‘sexually promiscuous’

Question 14

Wires

Answer 14

• poem was written at the same time as no road and in the same circumstance

Question 15

Church going

Answer 15

• Larkin had been in Belfast for 4 years and his two attachments (Winifred Arnott and Patsy Strang) had come to an end
• in the 1950s, many people still went to church regularly on Sunday but the practice was in decline with an increasingly secular society

Question 16

Age

Answer 16

• written in the months before he had found he had secured the job in Hull

Question 17

Myxomatosis

Answer 17

• Larkin left a third of his estate to the Royal Society of Cruelty to Animals, showing a particular tenderness to animals and the natural world

Question 18

Toads

Answer 18

• written in 1953 which was a period where Larkin received increased literary and media attention
• Larkin had no family wealth to fall back on, so he needed employment. But employment meant meant taking him away from his writing

Question 19

Poetry of departures

Answer 19

• written in January 1954 and shares thematic and contextual similarities with toads

Question 20

Triple time

Answer 20

• Larkin suffered two emotional blows during 1953 (the departure from Belfast of both Patsy Strange and Winifred Arnott)
• was written at the same time as whatever happened and just before Larkin’s poetry began to be noticed

Question 21

Spring

Answer 21

• written when Larkin was living with his mother after letting Ruth Bowman go

Question 22

Deceptions

Answer 22

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Question 23

I remember, I remember

Answer 23

• Larkin’s childhood
• Larkin’s parent’s marriage

Question 24

Absences

Answer 24

• written as his relationship to Ruth Arnott foundered as a result of distance
• the seascape of Belfast infuses this symbolist poem

Question 25

Latest face

Answer 25

• poem was written shortly after Larkin arrived at Queen’s university, Belfast and met Winifred Arnott and her name is inscribed repeatedly in the manuscript of the poem

Question 26

If, my darling

Answer 26

• poem is addressed to Monica Jones, whom he had met some years earlier and with whom he maintained a relationship throughout his life
• written during the period (early 1950) whilst he lived at Dixon Drive with his mother, he was bored with his job and with his relationship to Ruth Bowman foundering in indecision, resulted in a spate of curiosity

Question 27

Skin

Answer 27

• in private letters and doodles in his notebook, he expressed insecurities about his appearance from a young age: he was tall, stooping and prematurely balding, with poor eyesight and, as he aged, he became deaf
• written when Larkin was 32, but he writes it as if he is much older

Question 28

Arrivals, departures

Answer 28

• Larkin wrote the poem after he was given news of Winifred Arnott’s engagement to her long-time boyfriend in England
• the setting of the poem reflects his friendship with Monica Jones

Question 29

At grass

Answer 29

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