larkin context/critics w poems Flashcards
Here
“His poetry simply reflected his own life” - Golding
Mr Bleaney
“Larkin is a hopeless + inflexible pessimist” - Appleyard
Nothing To Be Said
“Some people are optimists + some people are pessimists” - Booth
“Larkin feels cheated by existence” - Cox
Love Songs in Age
Larkin was a professional music critic
Broadcast
“Only in Broadcast does the second person appear” - Patrick
Maeve Brennan
Faith Healing
“Larkin feels cheated by existence”
Larkin was an atheist
Larkin’s father told him to “never believe in God”
For Sidney Bechet
Larkin loved jazz; but was also a racist
“Larkin is a hopeless + inflexible pessimist” - Appleyard (COUNTER-he isn’t in this poem)
Home is so Sad
“My mother was a rambling fool” - Larkin
Toads resisted
Larkin never retired - worked until death
“Larkin’s poetry simply reflected his own life” - Golding
Water
Larkin an athiest
Larkin’s father told him “Dont believe in God!”
“Delighted in whom he offended” - Golding
The Whitsun Weddings
“The unmarried observer, a staple in Larkin’s poetic world” - Martin
Larkin never married
Self’s the Man
“The unmarried observer, a staple in Larkin’s poetic world” - Martin
Take One Home for the Kiddies
Larkin loved animals
“Larkin respects the nonhuman otherness of animals” - Booth
Days
Larkin was a nihilist
“Larkin is a hopeless + inflexible pessimist” - Appleyard
MCMXIV
Larkin could not fight in the war bc his eyesight was too bad
Talking in Bed
Larkin’s parents had a toxic marriage
Larkin never married
“Love + marriage are all degraded by Larkin’s hands”
A Study of Reading Habits
Larkin was a librarian
“Larkins fury against women is an external battle within himself” - Rossen
As Bad as a Mile
Larkin was a nihilist
“To Larkin, life appears as a continuous series of setbacks, as one long process of delay” - Herold
Ambulances
Larkin was a nihilist
“The Whitsun Weddings dwells on the futility of existence” - Golding
“Larkin feels cheated by existence” - Cox
The Importance of Elsewhere
1st person
Half rhyme
Sunny Prestatyn
“Larkin was accused of misogynistic enjoyment of female degradation” - Booth
Dockery and Sons
Changing rhyme scheme - diff paths ppl choose
Nihilism
“The Whitsun Weddings dwells on the futility of existence” - Golding
Ignorance
“There are limits to our knowledge of time + the areas beyond our limits aren’t accessible to the human mind” - Hobsbaum
Reference Back
“My mother was a rambling fool” - Larkin
Worked as a jazz correspondent for Daily Telegraph
Wild Oats
Ruth Bauman + Jane Exoll
L was engaged to Ruth
“Let me remember the only married state I know is bloody hell” - Larkin
Essential Beauty
Afternoons
“The unmarried observer, a staple in Larkins poetic world.” - Martin
An Arundel Tomb
“Love ins’t stronger than death just because statues hold hands for 600 years” - Larkin
Larkin often visited cathedrals/churches with Monica Jones- ironic bc he was an atheist
