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Larkin Poems > Larkin Poems Analysis > Flashcards

Larkin Poems Analysis Flashcards

1
Q

how does Larkin use structure in Wires to illustrate his messages?

A

there is more enjambment in the first stanza than second; suggests searching, exploration - deception? the steers think there is freedom - a visual manifestation of physical space

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2
Q

how does Larkin use rhyme in Wires to explore his themes?

A
  • places wires at the centre which emphasises control
  • reflects constraints within the poem; cyclical, inescapable
  • before the 2nd stanza there is hope for beyond the wires, but it just becomes a repeat of the beginning; no progression of freedom
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3
Q

analyse the quote: ‘the widest prairies have electric fences’ from Wires

A
  • superlative ‘widest’ reinforces space; ironic as they are seemingly free (illusion)
  • juxtaposition of ‘prairies’ and ‘fences’ suggest limitation of opportunities/imagination
  • ‘electric fence’ is not just a normal fence; symbolic of modernism and desire to return to simpler times
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4
Q

analyse the quote ‘always scenting purer water’ from Wires

A
  • ‘always’ constant, instinctual, never fulfilled
  • ‘purer water’ as a metaphor for a better life? freedom and opportunity? dreams and goal?
  • water not grass - water is fluid and changeable, as freedom/dreams are
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5
Q

analyse the quote ‘not here but anywhere.’ from Wires

A
  • desperation to escape
  • caesura signifies the end of freedom
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6
Q

analyse the quote ‘beyond the wires / leads them to blunder up against the wires’ from Wires

A
  • heavy enjambment where the gap is symbolic of the space and the false hope of freedom
  • ‘blunder’ feels accidental suggesting the steers are not sure of their decision presenting younger generation as foolish/naive
  • Larkin’s 3rd person perspective almost aligns himself with the older generations; an observer
  • don’t understand why they are doing it, it is just instinct; steers are inexperienced so perhaps this was a mistake (because they should, in society’s eyes, by content with what they have)
  • didn’t expect the wires - deception
  • ‘blunder’ plosives show strength/determination to break free
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7
Q

analyse the quote ‘whose muscle-shredding violence’ from Wires

A
  • ‘whose’ belongs to the wires, they are actively harming; suggests society is not welcoming to the younger generation and that social limitations are imposing and powerful
  • ‘violence’ shows society using fear as a manipulation tactic; does society actually care about how we feel?
  • ‘muscle-shredding’ is compound pre-modifying adjective; emotive, almost personifying the wires; hyperbolic - suggests no new freedom is won without violence and struggle
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8
Q

analyse the quote ‘young steers become old cattle’ from Wires

A
  • metaphor for older and younger generation; youth think they have freedom but become disillusioned through their experiences of society; worldview is hemmed in and they don’t feel the need to strive for more
  • ‘become’ language of transformation suggests its not youth just gaining knowledge, but they’ve intrinsically changed; transformation is an act of violence; for the individual it may feel like chance (‘blunder’) but it is a destined, necessary, formative experience
  • consequences of society/socially imposed norms is cyclical, generational trauma of gaining knowledge but losing freedom
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9
Q

how does Larkin use rhyme in Next, Please to explore his themes?

A
  • Rhyme scheme: rhyming couplets which creates an upbeat, child-like tone which represents society’s naivety and immaturity
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10
Q

analyse the quote ‘always too eager for the future, we / pick up bad habits of expectancy.’ from Next, Please

A
  • fronted adverbial ‘always’ in conjunction with ‘too’ suggests the reality of the future cannot resemble our high hopes
  • ‘bad habits’ suggests society is optimistic for the future but impatient about its arrival, necessarily leading to disappointment
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11
Q

analyse the quote ‘something is always approaching […] Till then, we say’ from Next, Please

A
  • ‘something’ is abstract, suggesting our expectations of the future will never be able to materialise, as they are not specific
  • ‘till then’ is also an intangible timeframe, suggesting our hopes for the future are ungrounded and elusive so our notion of yearning for the future is unsubstantiated
  • ‘we’ collective pronoun included Larkin himself in the voice of society
  • ‘always’ and ‘every’ suggests the feeling of impatience is inescapable and demonstrated by all
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12
Q

analyse the quote ‘sparkling armada of promises draw near’ from Next, Please

A
  • ‘draw near’ suggests that society makes no actual effort to achieve what they want; they are passive
  • ‘sparkling’ suggests the promise of the future is rare and our expectations are hard to find
  • contrast within the metaphor, between luxurious ‘sparkling’ and dangerous ‘armada’ reflects the hidden dangers of relying on our expectations of the future; it will never materialise and we are destined to be disappointed in our superficial desires and consumerism mindset
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13
Q

analyse the quote ‘refusing to make haste!’ from Next, Please

A
  • repeated exclamatives are emphatic of society’s impatience as a childish voice of frustration
  • ‘refusing’ shifts the blame away from our own impatience to the movement of time itself
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14
Q

analyse the quote ‘holding wretched stalks of disappointment’ from Next, Please

A
  • metaphor suggests we cling to the promises of the future and can’t move on; we are stuck in a cycle of romanticising the future and watching it never come to fruition as our romanticised notions of the future cannot materialise
  • the ‘disappointment’ reflects society’s disillusionment as a result of our impatience
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15
Q

analyse the quote ‘brasswork prinked […] wit golden tits’ from Next, Please

A
  • ‘brasswork prinked’ suggests grandeur, the sublime; reflective of how society sees the future, suggesting the idea of the future is better than the reality
  • bathos exposes the contrast of ideal and reality, making society seem foolish and idiotic
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16
Q

analyse the quote ‘no sooner present than it turns to past’ from Next, Please

A

reference to time reflects the incessant, unstoppable, and inevitable passage of time suggesting our opportunities are fleeting and transient

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17
Q

analyse the quote ‘all good into our lives, all we are owed / for waiting so devoutly and so long’ from Next, Please

A
  • repetition of ‘all’ highlights our greed and self-entitlement
  • ‘devoutly’ = religious lexis
  • suggests society feels entitles to the exaggerated version of the future; semi-sarcastic and mocking tone is indicative of Larkin’s own self-loathing
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18
Q

analyse the quote ‘but we are wrong’ from next, Please

A
  • monosyllabic; Larkin emphasises that we are, in actuality, undeserving of our own romanticised notions
  • acts as a soft volta separating the foolish illusions of society from reality
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19
Q

analyse the quote ‘black-sailed unfamiliar […] huge and birdless silence’ from Next, Please

A
  • metaphor for death
  • ‘black’ vs ‘golden tits’; colour imagery suggests the reality of the future is bleak and mundane compared to our romanticised ideals, but it also more serious and less trivial
  • ‘unfamiliar’ suggests we are avoidant of the truth and actuality of the future and instead focus on romantic notions; death is fundamentally unexpected and unknowable
  • ‘huge’ suggests it is all-consuming and overwhelming; future is characterised by hopelessness and nothingness, an absolute end
  • negation of birds in ‘birdless’ suggests death is restrictive as birds are symbolic of freedom
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20
Q

how is voice used in Wedding Wind?

A
  • In Wedding Wind, Larkin uses the voice of a female speaker on her wedding day and in her life post-marriage.​
  • Larkin uses this persona to subtly indicate his own beliefs regarding married life. ​
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21
Q

analyse the quote ‘the wind blew all my wedding-day […] night of the high wind’ from Wedding Wind

A
  • pathetic fallacy hints at marriage’s ability to change the future and shift in identity for the speaker; almost becomes one person, not two - she is ‘his’ wife
  • wind is symbolic and initially represents excitement and joy
  • assonance and present participles create a sense of fluidity imitating the constant surge of the wind dominating her thoughts
  • ‘high wind’ is symbolic of high emotions; excitement and anticipation suggesting the pinnacle of marriage is the wedding night
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22
Q

analyse the quote ‘banging, again and again’ from Wedding Wind

A
  • foreshadows her ruined life post-marriage and the lack of joy in it
  • onomatopoeia (aural imagery) represents the intrusion of reality in her romanticised ideal of marriage
  • repetitions suggests it is unavoidable, constant and never-ending, mirroring the incoming monotony and boredom
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23
Q

analyse the quote ‘stupid in candlelight […] twisted candlestick’ from Wedding Wind

A
  • ‘stupid’ juxtaposes typical connotations of candlelight of hp[e, truth, intimacy, and romance thereby undermining any possible romance
  • ‘twisted’ suggests her fantasy does not match with reality; as a result of marriage, her identity has been warped/fragmented and she is unsure of herself in her new role as wife
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24
Q

analyse the quote ‘I was sad / that any man or beast that night should lack the happiness I had’ from Wedding Wind

A
  • simple lexis of ‘sad’ juxtaposes the hyperbolic expectations with simplistic, basic reality, suggesting she is naive for having these beliefs - Larkin subtly mocks the speaker by undermining her exclamation of happiness
  • ‘sad’ and ‘happy’ are paradoxical
  • sharp end-stop suggests a sharp end to the wedding day and the end of happiness in marriage
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25
Q

analyse the quote ‘in the day / all’s ravelled under the sun by the wind’s blowing’ from Wedding Wind

A
  • ‘ravelled’ suggests the speaker’s romanticised notion of life after marriage had been undone by the ‘wind’s blowing’
  • the temporal shift to day is emphatic of the reveal of genuine married life as disappointing and unexpected
  • absence of ‘wedding’ in ‘day’ removes any uniqueness suggesting her life is no longer special but defined by the ordinary
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26
Q

analyse the quote ‘set it down, and stare.’ from Wedding Wind

A
  • lifeless list created monotonous, mundane imagery of domesticity and stability, which Larkin mocks
  • pause to reflect on reality
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27
Q

analyse the quote ‘hunting through clouds and forests, thrashing my apron’ from Wedding Wind

A
  • personification as animalistic and destructive suggestive of a predator and prey; the wind of unhappiness and regret is inescapable
  • ‘thrashing’ is aggressive as speaker loses control of her own life and becomes defined by marriage
  • ‘apron’ is symbolic of traditional gender roles
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28
Q

analyse the quote ‘like a thread carrying beads’ from Wedding Wind

A
  • fragile nature of happiness in humanity
  • simile where ‘thread’ symbolises marriage (without marriage she falls apart) and ‘beads symbolise happiness bur happiness is precarious and contrived
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29
Q

analyse the quote ‘perpetual morning shares my bed’ from Wedding Wind

A
  • hyperbole suggests the ridiculousness of the speaker’s supposed happiness
  • ‘perpetual’ suggests the speaker’s happiness will last forever; Larkin suggests she is stuck in a cycle of entrapment
  • ‘morning’ is symbolic of new life and happiness which seems good but means intimacy in the marriage is lost and she cannot sleep; impractical
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30
Q

analyse the quote ‘can even death dry up / these new delighted lakes, conclude / our kneeling as cattle by all-generous waters?’ from Wedding Wind

A
  • ‘lakes’ represent the vitality and joy of her marriage (the ‘floods’ created by the wind) suggesting her love is so powerful she wonders if even death could end it
  • ‘kneeling’ has religious connotations, suggesting their love is almost holy. also emphatic of subservience and desperation, suggesting her happiness remind her of the frailty of humanity. In her simplicity, she is content to resign herself to a higher power, trusting and compliant.
  • ‘cattle’ is inhuman and reflective of the masses; presents marriage as a foolish social norm and suggests speaker has a sense of naivety and innocence
  • triple rhetorical questions reflective of genuine anxiety and uncertainty in post-married life. Speaker’s questions undermine her supposed happiness and make it ingenuine.
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31
Q

how does Larkin use rhyme in Places, Loved Ones to explore his themes?

A
  • AB rhyme scheme
  • regular rhyme scheme reflects monotony and predictability of society’s following of stereotypes and expectations
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32
Q

analyse the title of Places, Loved Ones

A
  • use of plurals indicates universality of concepts
  • suggests a connection forged between physical and emotional space
  • lack of conjunction suggests a lingering distance between concepts
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33
Q

analyse the quote ‘No, I have never found’ from Places, Loved Ones

A

repeated negation of ‘no’ and ‘never’ indicates the speaker’s separation from typical societal expectations; the speaker separates themselves from those who comply to them

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34
Q

analyse the quote ‘proper ground […] that special one […] everything I own’ from Places, Loved Ones

A
  • reference to notions of fate and singularity typically associated with ‘true love’
  • half rhyme between ‘one’ and ‘own’ indicates the speaker’s distaste for ‘true love.’ alternatively, suggests regret at missing his opportunity for this.
  • ‘proper ground’ indicates the pompous voice of society; used to mock generic ideas of finding happiness
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35
Q

analyse the quote ‘instant claim […] down to my name’ from Places, Loved Ones

A
  • use of legal terminology hints at legally-binding contract of marriage and suggests romantic relationships are a form of restrictive contract
  • suggests the speaker has not experienced the kind of love that leads to marriage
  • love is portrayed as stealing/a loss
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36
Q

analyse the quote ‘seems to prove / you want no choice’ from Places, Loved Ones

A
  • use of pronoun further separates speaker from rest of society; defensive tone suggests he is superior in his ability to make clear choices and not be swayed by the stereotypical convention of marriage
  • ‘no choice’ - Larkin juxtaposes notions of fate and free will, suggesting that succumbing to fate necessitates the sacrifice of free will to emphasise the speaker’s superiority over those who embrace singularity in love and place
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37
Q

analyse the quote ‘town turn dreary / the girl a dolt’ from Places, Loved Ones

A
  • cynical tone ridicules married couples and portrays marriage as an infinitely binding contract
  • ‘special one’ becomes ‘girl’ and ‘proper ground’ becomes ‘town’ - marriage is romanticised; the reality is bleak
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38
Q

analyse the quote ‘yet having missed them, you’re bound […] to act as if what you settled for mashed you’ from Places, Loved Ones

A
  • conjunction indicates a turning point to a confessional tone (speaker reveals his own reality); shift from mocker and dismissal to a subtle indication of regret; speaker has missed out on security in love and home
  • ‘bound’ creates a sense of inescapable restriction suggesting both marriage and loneliness are binding; we are continuously forced to embrace our ‘fate’ - Larkin blames humanity’ inertia for our inability to escape this bind
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39
Q

analyse the quote ‘wiser to keep away / from thinking you might still trace […] your person, your place’ from Places, Loved Ones

A
  • Larkin offers advice to readers suffering from loneliness and alienation as he encourages them not to dwell on the possibility of love and place; idea that opportunities, once missed, cannot be recovered
  • parallel phrasing and 2nd person pronouns indicate contrasting element of hope; this seems futile in conjunction with his previous advice
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40
Q

how does Larkin use rhyme in Coming to explore his themes?

A
  • written in free verse
  • perhaps intended to represent the overflowing passion and excitement of the main character, as he observes the coming of new life.
  • lack of rhyme and rhythm creates an untainted, unframed moment
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41
Q

how does Larkin use rhythm in Coming to explore his themes?

A

weak endings hint at something unsaid or unseen

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42
Q

analyse the title of Coming

A
  • present tense; shows how speaker is in the moment
  • connotations of excitement, anticipation
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43
Q

analyse the quote ‘Light, chill and yellow’ from Coming

A
  • ‘light’ is symbolic of truth, being enlightened, and genuine enjoyment
  • colour imagery of ‘yellow’ is positive, tranquil, calm; suggestive of sunrise and new beginnings
  • there is a contrast between the colour imagery of ‘yellow’ being warm, and the light which is ‘chill’ reflecting battle between spring and winter
  • simple language is reminiscent of childhood
  • ‘l’ alliteration brings a fluid, watery, hypnotic, and dreamlike feel
  • pathetic fallacy highlights ability of nature to shift emotional states
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44
Q

analyse the quote ‘foreheads’ from Coming

A
  • personification mimics the imagination of childhood, suggesting a joyful and creative perception of the world
  • could be a reference to baptism, as the changing seasons become a cleansing process bringing serenity and hope
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45
Q

analyse the quote ‘laurel-surrounded’ from Coming

A

laurel is a symbol of victory and celebration; it is an evergreen, perhaps suggesting he feels as if his joy will never fade, or perhaps as a remnant of winter

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46
Q

analyse the quote ‘deep, bare garden’ from Coming

A
  • reminiscent of winter, suggesting mundanity and bleakness
  • ‘bare’ may be anticipatory of new life
  • juxtaposition of spring and winter makes spring feel better
  • contrast between ‘l’ and sibilant sounds with plosives may present the thrush as a harbinger of warmth, struggling to break through
  • there is a limited/economical use of verbs, making it feel unnaturally still
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47
Q

analyse the quote ‘it will be spring soon’ from Coming

A
  • spring is symbolic of new life and beginnings, joy and change
  • repetition is similar to a monosyllabic, childlike chant; perhaps slowing pace in anticipation of focus shift to emphasise change; perhaps showing childlike excitement; perhaps reassuring himself that it gets better and guarding against negativity of winter
  • volta occurs at extended hyphenated pause where the focus shifts to him and childhood, away from nature, reflecting the passage of time
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48
Q

analyse the quote ‘feel like a child’ from Coming

A
  • simile suggests innocence, naivete, and excitement suggesting that spring renews him and gives him the chance to recreate his childhood as the cycle of seasons mimic cycle of life
  • perhaps re-experiencing life as a child, as it should have been; with joy, not boredom
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49
Q

analyse the quote ‘of adult reconciling / and can understand nothing / but the unusual laughter / and starts to be happy’ from Coming

A
  • adult-child relationship becomes metaphorical for speaker and his relationship with nature as the speaker experiences wonder at the beauty of spring which invigorates him, but he can’t understand why; represents his inability to understand the reasons or rules of life and the bigger picture, but his choice to be happy regardless
  • ‘and…but…and’ repeated conjunctions has childlike storytelling
  • ‘unusual laughter’ may suggest he finds joy in the little things
  • ‘can understand nothing’ may suggest he is ignorantly happy, unaware of the fragility of a ‘reconciliation’ and that unhappiness is easily hidden, even in a ‘good’ life
  • universal/formative experience
  • ‘starts to be happy’ may reflect the exit from a cold, harsh winter
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50
Q

analyse the quote ‘the trumpet’s voice loud and authoritative’ from Reasons for Attendance

A
  • speaker yields to the trumpet’s voice
  • metaphor for the draw of things other than his work
  • personification; society’s expectations are overwhelming, demanding, and oppressive
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51
Q

analyse the quote ‘lighted glass’ from Reasons for Attendance

A
  • can’t be touched; almost a mirage
  • stops him accessing; a boundary between speaker and dancer (speaker and society/societal desires)
  • ‘light’ is perhaps suggestive of hope and excitement promised by societal demands; the glass is symbolic of social norms which block humanity’s access to genuine happiness
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52
Q

analyse the quote ‘all under twenty-five’ from Reasons for Attendance

A
  • youth, freedom, height of beauty
  • desires of society; dancers are everyday, conforming members of society
  • suggests naivete in youth, naïve happiness; seems to be contrived happiness and freedom - youth tied to happiness; cannot continue into adulthood as it is dependent on innocence
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53
Q

analyse the quote ‘solemnly on the beat of happiness’ from Reasons for Attendance

A

juxtaposition; paradoxical - according to the speaker, dancer’s genuine emotions are solemn and they are putting on a facade of happiness to fulfil their role

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54
Q

analyse the quote ‘why be out here? / but then, why be in there? sex, yes, but what / is sex?’ from Reasons for Attendance

A
  • triple rhetorical questions; uncertainty
  • repetition of words; trying to find a deeper meaning to sex but sees it as a base desire and himself as superior
  • rejects stereotypical connotations of sex and desire; intimacy is contrived, meaningless, unsentimental and relationships are just a distraction
  • debating; doesn’t understand the notion of ‘sex sells’
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55
Q

analyse the quote ‘sheer / inaccuracy’ from Reasons for Attendance

A
  • enjambment at volta; suspension of ‘sheer’ shows speaker realising their genuine emotions
  • typical placement, typical of Larkin; doesn’t believe happiness comes from relationships - typicality means volta itself becomes representative of social norms
  • visual manifestation of rejection of social norms
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56
Q

analyse the quote ‘lifted, rough-tongued bell’ from Reasons for Attendance

A
  • ‘lifted’ = higher arts
  • ‘rough-tongued’ compound adjective; contrasts trumpet - the bell is rough but real - peels deception away like sandpaper, it is unforgiving and complex - finds the truth of himself and society as his preference for art makes him separate from society
  • trumpets play together, bells don’t
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57
Q

analyse the quote ‘insists I too am individual. / it speaks; i hear’ from Reasons for Attendance

A
  • not following society; replaces relationships with art
  • syntactic parallelism suggests he is in sync with art
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58
Q

analyse the quote ‘not for me, nor I for them’ from Reasons for Attendance

A
  • acceptance of complete separation; sees himself as fundamentally different
  • ‘me’ vs ‘them’ - him, the individual, against all the un-unique masses; unwilling to form relationships with society
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59
Q

analyse the quote ‘they maul to and fro’ from Reasons for Attendance

A
  • violent fighting, unrest, animalistic, primitive
  • contrasts him as a higher form of being and the connotations of dancing as elegant and cultured
  • ‘trumpet’ is smooth and draws people in, putting up a facade for violence, whereas bell is simple and honest
  • even though the final line implies both ways of being are okay, they ‘maul’ whereas he does not; still superior
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60
Q

analyse the quote ‘both are satisfied, / if no one has misjudged himself. or lied.’ from Reasons for Attendance

A
  • if you act in truth, you will be happy no matter your choice
  • ‘or lied’: this could be the speaker warning society against ‘dumbing yourself down’ to fit in OR a moment of uncertainty for the speaker with the caesura as a moment of reflection
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61
Q

how does Larkin use structure in Going to illustrate his messages?

A
  • 3 tercets and 1 single line stanza
  • singular final line slows pace, mimicking slowing mind processes/the heaviness of hands
  • breakdown of structure shows break from life, reinforces speaker’s anxieties and tears; death is inexplicable and evasive
  • shows journey/transformation of life to death; becomes more vague/less concrete through poem
  • final line is unexpected, like death
  • each tercet is end-stopped; finality of death
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62
Q

analyse the title of Going

A

present tense suggests it is constant, ever-present, inescapable, inevitable, universal; nihilistic

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63
Q

analyse the quote ‘across the fields, one never seen before’ from Going

A
  • nature imagery recalls natural cycle of life
  • death defined as the unknown
  • ‘evening’ is metaphor for death
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64
Q

analyse the quote ‘lights no lamps’ from Going

A
  • repetition of negators shows death is empirically unverifiable
  • reference to artificial lights suggests our dependence on modern society has separated us from the cycle of life; we no longer accept death
  • darkness connotes confusion, lack of hope; merciless, unforgiving; the absence of anything (soul etc) after death
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65
Q

analyse the quote ‘silken it seems at a distance’ from Going

A
  • sibilance suggests a sense of speed; people don’t realise how fast death approaches
  • gentle and mild imagery suggests we have an ignorant perception of death as a child or due to religion - hope of afterlife - (‘at a distance’) and we don’t understand the full impact
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66
Q

analyse the quote ‘it brings no comfort’ from Going

A

plosives contrasts earlier sibilance; reality of death is harsh and destructive

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67
Q

analyse the quote ‘where has the tree gone, that locked / earth to sky?’ from Going

A
  • tree is symbolic of tree of life - connection of life to earth is severed as hope of afterlife is destroyed
  • isolating, disconcerting imagery suggests complete lack of comfort
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68
Q

analyse the quote ‘what loads my hands down?’ from Going

A
  • triple of rhetorical questions emphasise confusion, desperation, and fear in the face of death
  • speaker feels the need to have an answer, but there is a complete lack of one
  • earlier in the poem, speaker had certainty; ignorance to death is universal
  • questioning life decisions
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69
Q

how does Larkin use structure in Born Yesterday to illustrate his messages?

A

free verse - opposes regular rhyme scheme typical of the movement; freedom for her in life

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70
Q

how does Larkin use rhyme in Born Yesterday to illustrate his messages?

A
  • rhyming final 2 lines give sense of finality
  • other half-rhymes throughout poem - not too anything
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71
Q

analyse the quote ‘tightly-folded bud’ from Born Yesterday

A
  • metaphor for the baby
  • speaker feels protective; paternal connection
  • nature; flower = feminine; circle of life = will bloom into a young woman
  • unopened, unknown, unlearned, youthful; not yet exposed to societal norms
  • full of potential and possibility
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72
Q

analyse the title of Born Yesterday

A
  • idiomatic meaning: naive, foolish, vulnerable, innocent, easily manipulated - It has connotations of naivety and foolishness. Larkin suggests the cliched expectations of society should be seen in this way.
  • literal meaning: newborn, young
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73
Q

analyse the quote ‘none of the others would: / not the usual stuff’ from Born Yesterday

A
  • repeated negation
  • separation from normality/society; typical Larkin outsider voice
  • wants Sally to be an individual like him and avoid mindless conformity
  • colloquialism suggests its unimportance, as well as conveying such ideas lack originality.
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74
Q

analyse the quote ‘beautiful […] spring […] innocence […] love’ from Born Yesterday

A

semantic field of femininity and youth; romanticised, stereotypical

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75
Q

analyse the quote ‘well, you’re a lucky girl’ from Born Yesterday

A

mildly cynical tone; condescending towards voice of society

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76
Q

analyse the quote ‘but if it shouldn’t, then / may you be ordinary’ from Born Yesterday

A
  • argument marker ‘but’ indicates soft shift, not a volta
  • subversion of expectations; society expects people to want to be extraordinary
  • to be ordinary is to be unique in a society where everyone is chasing perfection (there is safety and positivity in normalcy); destroying the fallacy of belief that beauty and love make a life/person worthwhile
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77
Q

analyse the quote ‘not ugly, not good-looking, nothing uncustomary’ from Born Yesterday

A

repeated negation in asyndetic list removes pressure to fulfil standards

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78
Q

analyse the quote ‘in fact, may you be dull - / [adjectives] catching of happiness’ from Born Yesterday

A
  • extended pause almost like a new stanza
  • monosyllabic - plain, simple
  • asyndetic list of adjectives reframes and redefines what it means to be dull
  • list is no longer monosyllabic language; this language is deep and meaningful showing important values
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79
Q

how does Larkin use structure in Wants to illustrate his messages?

A
  • repetition reflects repetivity of life as the speaker is trapped in the cyclical nature of social conformity whilst his true desire is to escape
  • may also reflect his recurring/incessant desires; he can’t get rid of them/thoughts of death
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80
Q

how does Larkin use metre in Wants to illustrate his messages?

A

sluggish iambic pentameter in the 2 refrains and heavy mid-line pauses (caesuras), combined with structural parallelism of the 2 stanzas, create a sense of weariness, exhaustion, and monotony

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81
Q

analyse the quote ‘all this’ from Wants

A
  • speaker perceives his life as a whole, questioning what his genuine desires are
  • colloquial tone feels derisive and reductive, as the speaker perceives social norms as unimportant and himself as superior (egotistical)
82
Q

analyse the quote ‘sky grows dark with invitation-cards’ from Wants

A
  • ominous suggesting confusion, secrecy, the unknown
  • may mean that there are so many social norms that it alters the natural way of being (sunlight)
  • conveys how the expectation to socialise and be part of a community fills him with a sense of dread and anxiety.
83
Q

analyse the quote ‘however’ from Wants

A

anaphora of however suggests that societal expectations undercut the speaker’s personal wants

84
Q

analyse the quote ‘printed directions of sex’ from Wants

A
  • suggests mundanity, tame, rule-book to follow
  • sex feels almost like a chore; even in the most intimate moments to the speaker, there is pressure but no emtion
  • reflects societal pressures to be intimate
85
Q

analyse the quote ‘family is photographed under the flag-staff’ from Wants

A
  • ‘family’ contrasts adult life of ‘invitation cards’ and ‘sex’ suggesting that all parts of society and life, even tender and innocent ones, are pressured by society
  • speaker is critical of family life, as a photograph captures a fake perception of reality, suggesting a contrived happiness (speaker doesn’t believe a happy family is real)
  • ‘flag-staff’ mocks the expectation that everyone takes part in society through having a family and being proud of their nation
86
Q

analyse the quote ‘artful tensions’ from Wants

A
  • suggests the speaker is undertaking a balancing act, and does not act on his true desires
  • connotations of being sly, crafty, manipulative; suggests people don’t initially see that they may not want to partake in all these norms. may also suggest that society distracts us from death (nihilistic perspective)
87
Q

analyse the quote ‘costly aversion’ from Wants

A

implies that by not accepting our own mortality, we don’t fully engage with life

88
Q

analyse the quote ‘beneath it all, the desire for oblivion runs’ from Wants

A
  • shift from ‘beyond’ reflects the suppression of the speaker’s real desires
  • emphasises the inevitability of death as it undercuts social obligations, therefore the speaker sees the conformity as meaningless
  • ‘oblivion’ suggests our natural condition is of isolation and, given the disappointment and suffering inherent in existence, what we yearn most for is non-existence; a desire for anything other than solitariness and death is an illusion
  • weary vagueness and curt dismissiveness suggests life both confines us (we wish to go ‘beyond’) and weighs heavily on us (we have to dig ‘beneath’)
89
Q

how does Larkin use structure, rhythm, and rhyme in Maiden Name to illustrate his messages?

A
  • ABBACCA
  • equal no. syllables per line
  • reflects monotony and routines of marriage
90
Q

analyse the quote ‘marrying left your maiden name disused.’ from Maiden Name

A
  • ‘your’ direct address; suggests this is an apostrophe to winifred arnott
  • ‘disused’ has connotations of forgotten, wasted, disregarded, useless; suggests she threw away her identity in an uncaring way - Larkin forges a connection between name an identity
  • in disuse but not completely lost suggests her ‘name’ is still out there; speaker clings on to hope of being with her
  • marriage is usually seen as a positive progression; the sense of abandonment almost personifies her name as she loses her identity suggesting marriage changes you into a new person and erases the past
  • end-stopped line emphasises this as the end of something
91
Q

analyse the quote ‘five light sounds’ from Maiden Name

A
  • syllables of her maiden name
  • ‘light’ has connotations of purity suggesting the speaker now perceives her as ‘weighed down’ by her new name and ‘impure’
92
Q

analyse the quote ‘so thankfully confused / by law with someone else’ from Maiden Name

A
  • ‘thankfully’ is almost a dutiful gesture of politeness to the new husband, undermined by irony (‘unfingermarked’)
  • sarcastic/oxymoronic passive aggressive tone presenting marriage as manipulative and the woman as foolish (belittling)
  • legal lexis has connotations of punishment and mistakes, emphasising negative permanence of marriage
  • reduces marriage to a contract, removing the emotion; suggests her marriage is loveless and transactional - the speaker misconstrues the woman’s choice to continue perceiving her as naive and innocent
  • recalls societal norms, suggesting marriage is just a convenience
  • ‘someone else’ language of transformation
93
Q

analyse the quote ‘that young beauty’ from Maiden Name

A
  • ‘that’ suggests she has lost her sense of self
  • marriage has aged her, speaker can no longer view here that way; she has become tainted, her femininity has been removed (male gaze and objectification of women)
94
Q

analyse the quote ‘lying just where you left it’ from Maiden Name

A
  • polysemic
  • to be cast off; he feels abandoned
  • untruthful; her marriage was ingenuine and she is lying to herself/her maiden name is lying and telling her to move on/get married
95
Q

analyse the quote ‘a school prize or two’ from Maiden Name

A
  • childhood; her old self was notable and worthy of celebration vs her unremarkable married self
  • asyndetic listing seems endless suggesting nostalgia and a mournful tone as her detailed, wide life is now just a list of things
96
Q

analyse the quote ‘then is it scentless, weightless, strengthless, wholly / untrithful?’ from Maiden Name

A
  • volta - until now, mostly simple language (concrete words) and neatly end-stopped lines with clever and sprightly tone; now, a sudden serious hyperphora in a clumsy run-on line
  • sibilance and the repetition of ‘less’ suffix suggests she is now lesser; marriage is characterised by loss
  • ‘strengthless’ suggests that by giving herself to another she has been weakened
97
Q

analyse the quote ‘no, it means you. or, since you’re past and gone’ from Maiden Name

A
  • certainty vs uncertainty; speaker checks with himself and reaffirms his viewpoint
  • suggests he is caught up in his thoughts/disoriented and is unable to accept reality
  • semantic field of loss with ‘old’ ‘lying’ ‘scattered’ ‘past’ and ‘gone’ is mournful; emphasises how he is unable to access the previous woman
98
Q

analyse the quote ‘it means what we feel now about you then’ from Maiden Name

A
  • collective noun may be a distancing technique or the speaker trying to find support
  • ‘now’ and ‘then’ solidifies the past as something she can’t return to; there is a metrical stress on ‘now’ and ‘then’
  • the past is characterised by our inability to return to it
  • emphasises the speaker’s feelings of desire and jealousy
99
Q

analyse the quote ‘unfingermarked’ from Maiden Name

A
  • reference to marriage ring suggestive of a figurative impurity; speaker feeds his own ego by creating the image of a tainted women
  • could mean untouched (by time, by her husband, by societal expectations)
  • reference to fingerprint; in his minds, she has completely transformed but in reality she is the same individual
100
Q

analyse the quote ‘your old name shelters our faithfulness’ from Maiden Name

A
  • suggests he finds home and safety in her past self; speaker feels affection and longing
  • clinging to his only connection to her (maiden name)
101
Q

analyse the quote ‘instead of losing shape and meaning less’ from Maiden Name

A

her maiden name has not lost its significance, but assumed greater meaning by embodying all his feelings for her now she is lost to him

102
Q

analyse the quote ‘depreciating luggage laden’ from Maiden Name

A
  • heavy alliteration of ‘l’ is distinctly unfeminine, unlike ‘light’ or ‘ribbon’
  • her maiden name doesn’t depreciate like she does because it is still tethered to who she used to be
  • metaphor for her new husband and so ‘depreciating’ means he will lose his novelty
  • may mean she will lose her value
  • may mean her married name is a burden (‘laden’ vs ‘light sounds’)
  • ‘luggage’ connotes impermanence suggesting her marriage won’t last
103
Q

analyse the quote ‘since we agreed to let the road between us / Fall to disuse’ from No Road

A
  • extended metaphor of a road to represent the relationship/romantic connection, and experience of leaving a relationship
  • ‘we agreed’ suggests it was mutual/amicable
  • enjambment represents the separation and is emphatic of the loss of connection
  • ‘disuse’ implies that it still exists and could be revived as not enough time has passed yet
104
Q

analyse the quote ‘bricked […] planted […] turned all time’s eroding agents loose’ from No Road

A
  • repetition of verbs suggests a forced loss of connection; actively trying to separate
  • personification in ‘eroding agents’ emphasises time’s ability to shift our outlook; a slow but inevitable force of change - whereas the couple struggle to separate and move on, time is an undeniable force which will cause the break
105
Q

analyse the quote ‘silence, and space, and strangers - our neglect / has not had much effect’ from No Road

A
  • sibiliance suggests the separation is overwhelming; Larkin defines our experience of loss as lonely, confused, isolated, and equally overwhelming and anxiety-inducing as the separation is new and fresh
  • polysyndetic list is emphatic of the physical space as words are separated
  • rhyming couplet to end suggests not enough time has passed for him to move on and a connection still exists; the speaker has no authority in choosing to move on
106
Q

analyse the quote ‘drift unswept […] creeps unmnown’ from No Road

A
  • passive verbs create a slow atmosphere, suggesting the connection lingers, not yet faded by time
  • negated verbs, typical of Hardy, suggest the absence of something (stasis and inertia, an inability to move on), portraying time as standing still. Suggests speaker wants time to pass so he can feel better, but it seems slow. Speaker has a lack of control over his own emotions
107
Q

analyse the quote ‘so little overgrown’ from No Road

A

natural impagery suggests that depsite the forced separation, the timescale is still natural and not able to be dictated

108
Q

analyse the quote ‘and time would be the stronger’ from No Road

A

personifcation of time assigns authoirty to time itself, suggestive of the transformative power of time

109
Q

analyse the quote ‘drafting a world where no such road will run / from you to me’ from No Road

A
  • ‘drafting’ is unsteady and uncertain; suggests time is in control and its passage is unstoppable; therefore, separation and loss of connection is also unstoppable - at first, they actively separate but then power and control is taken by time
  • contrasting pronouns; at start ‘we’ now ‘you’ and ‘me’ - severeance/transition of pronouns is emblematic pf their relationship
110
Q

analyse the quote ‘watch that world come up like a cold sun’ from No Road

A
  • simile is paradoxical/ oxymoron suggesting their separation is wrong as a cold sun would be redundant/impossible meaning it is impossible for them to separate
  • simile may suggest separation is necessary but harsh as sun symbolisies positivity - it is lifegiving - and cold feels empty and lifeless
111
Q

analyse the quote ‘rewarding others, is my liberty. / Not to prevent it is my will’s fulfilment. / Willing it, my ailment.’ from No Road

A
  • suggests speaker is made ill/consumed by his desire for her
  • speaker’s tone shifts to a complex emotional state; both free and in pain
  • his ‘ailment’ is that he prefers a life of solitude to the complexity and compromise of being with another
112
Q

how does Larkin use rhyme in Toads to illustrate his messages?

A
  • almost ABAB rhyme scheme
  • somewhere between the monotony of work and the freedom of not working
113
Q

analyse the title of Toads

A

extended metaphor where the toad imagery represents society’s obligation to work

114
Q

analyse the quote ‘squat on my life’ from Toads

A
  • figurative meaning suggests it doesn’t belong there, like squatters; it is an annoyance
  • connotations of heaviness and indignity; working obligations are an unwanted burden but impossible to get rid of
  • speaker is trapped by the requirement made by society; lack of freedom
115
Q

analyse the quote ‘drive the brute off?’ from Toads

A
  • 2 initial rhetorical questions shows speaker is critical of society and working life
  • throws readers into the argument like society throws people into work
  • shows the speaker’s confusion towards work obligations
116
Q

analyse the quote ‘six days of the week it soils / with its sickening poison’ from Toads

A
  • ‘six days’ = all consuming
  • sibilance seems slow and dragging (like work) emphasising the speaker’s irritation
  • ‘sickening’ shows disgust and anger; comic exaggeration may suggest it is an explosive outburst and is unreasonable
  • ‘poison’ suggests it is bad for your health and will eventually kill you, presenting work as destructive and ruinous
117
Q

analyse the quote ‘just for paying a few bills!’ from Toads

A
  • ‘just’ minimises the use of work; speaker sees it as pointless and lacking value
  • exclamative shows indignance; speaker feels work is not worth what he gets out of it - the benefits are disproportionate to the effort required and the pressure placed on him
118
Q

analyse the quote ‘lots of folk’ from Toads

A

anaphora as the speaker separates himself from ‘these folk’ and sees himself as superior (he never even aligned himself with the movement)

119
Q

analyse the quote ‘lecturers, lispers / losers, loblolly men, louts’ from Toads

A
  • alliterative asyndetic listing groups them as a mass suggests they are all the same
  • may suggest the speaker struggles to identify those who actually live like this; it is a random list held only by alliteratioon
120
Q

analyse the quote ‘they don’t end up as paupers […] they seem to like it’ from Toads

A
  • these are the people he should envy, but his envy is superficial with a deeper tone of disparagement
  • he is desperate to find a solution to the toad, but is unconvinced
  • the speaker is envious of those who don’t need to work (persona of jealousy) but also presents an image of these people as lazy, worthless and avoidant (true feelings)
121
Q

analyse the quote ‘their unspeakable wives / are skinny as whippets’ from Toads

A
  • speaker is trying to envy them, but struggles to disguise his disapproval; his endurance of the daily grind gives him moral superiority
  • simile comparing them to animals is dehumanising; suggests they are violent/reliant on others
  • speaker is critical of people who don’t work; their life is difficult and desperate, as much as the toad is
122
Q

analyse the quote ‘but I know […] that’s the stuff / that dreams are made on’ from Toads

A
  • volta here emphasises how larkin uses a dual mindset to explore different perceptions of work
  • intertextual reference to the Tempest; lines are spoken by Prospero, a magician who dreams of a utopian society
  • speaker knows a world without work is impossible/futile and realises the necessity of work/jobs
123
Q

analyse the quote ‘for something sufficiently toad-like / squats in me, too’ from Toads

A
  • speaker has the desire to work and feels he needs to live a sincere and honest life
  • ‘in’ may suggest it is no longer weighing him down as the speaker has accepted the necessity of work; the drive to work is deep-rooted (‘in’) and speaker now embodies the working life
  • ‘in’ may also suggest that the poison is now inside him, so though he wants to work, it can still be detrimental
124
Q

analyse the quote ‘will never allow me to blarney’ from Toads

A

speaker does not want to live an insincere/ingenuine life; he wants to work hard and achieve

125
Q

analyse the quote ‘the fame and the girl and the money’ from Toads

A
  • superficial or universal desires?
  • what is proposed as an object of envy is qualified by a fundamental disapproval
126
Q

analyse the quote ‘I don’t say, one bodies the other / One’s spiritual truth; / but i do say it’s hard to lose either / when you have both’ from Toads

A
  • ‘one’ is money/work and the ‘other’ is happiness/desires; speaker does not believe that work/money is essential to happiness, but living honestly is
  • speaker’s genuine feelings/voice is clarified and he encourages hard work; if you’ve ‘blarnied’ your way to ‘fame’ etc and not through hard work, you will lose happiness, but if you work hard for it, you are less likely to lose it
  • ‘when you have both’ whilst speaker is discontent with work, it allows him to enjoy the prospect of rebelling whilst having the security of work
  • working and not working are not alternatives, but complimentary as whichever is chose, the rejected will still be desired (due to its freedom or security) and neither is more or less admirable
127
Q

how does Larkin use structure in Poetry of Departures to illustrate his messages?

A

4 octets: The poem’s short lines seem to wrestle against this shape through enjambment and caesura There’s a kind of push and pull going on, an attempt to break free that never quite succeeds.

128
Q

how does Larkin use meter in Poetry of Departures to illustrate his messages?

A

rough accentual meter: most (though not all) lines contain two or three stressed syllables, but a differing number of unstressed syllables. The poem sounds quite conversational yet has a subtle underlying pulse to it.

129
Q

how does Larkin use rhyme in Poetry of Departures to illustrate his messages?

A

ABCBADCD. Most of the rhymes are slant, sharing nothing but some final consonance (as in “epitaph”/”off” or “fifth-hand”/”sound” - sounds at once musical and conversational, at once carefully constructed and free-flowing.

130
Q

Analyse the quote ‘fifth-hand, / as epitaph’ from Poetry of Departures

A
  • play on 2nd-hand; so far removed its ridiculous
  • loses its original meaning; unreliable, undependable due to tendency to exagerrate; storytelling; myth or legend rather than actual story
  • ‘epitaph’ brings ideas of death; to abandon work is to begin a new life; person is dead so to abandon work is to ruin your life; misremembering and glorifying is almost mocking, it is overly dramatic - they are not actually dead
131
Q

analyse the quote ‘audacious, purifying, / elemental move’ from Poetry of Departures

A
  • triple of adjectives on surface is new, exciting, bold, powerful, unique but becomes almost hyperbolic with a mocking undertone
  • ‘purifying’ is almost a religious experience; an awakening - romanticised ideal
  • ‘elemental’ suggests it is groundbreaking, absurd, shocking
132
Q

analyse the quote ‘we all hate home’ from Poetry of Departures

A
  • collective pronoun shows univeral nature of a monotonous life; the speaker understands, to an extent, the desire to leave
  • monosyllabic and simple lexis; almost childlike (naive, foolish); simple messages to show universality
133
Q

analyse the quote ‘specially-chosen junk’ from Poetry of Departures

A
  • tries to make it personal but it is all meaningless
  • oxymoron; mocking of material possessions; if we don’t need these, we don’t need to work
134
Q

analyse the quote ‘the good books, the good bed / and my life, in perfect order’ from Poetry of Departures

A
  • repetition shows monotony of day-to-day life
  • ‘society has decided they are ‘good’ for him
  • despite perfection, he is still unsatisfied; detests perfection showing human desire for freedom and chaos
135
Q

analyse the quote ‘leaves me flushed and stirred / like then she undid her dress / or take that you bastard’ from Poetry of Departures

A
  • strong emotions make him individual
  • comparison of social rebellion to sexual desire and violence; base response shows innate human nature to want to escape and can have dire consequences (as sex and violence can)
  • parallels abandoning society with adrenaline-inducing activities suggesting the feeling doesn’t last and is over quickly
136
Q

analyse the quote ‘so to hear it said / he walked out on the crowd’ from Poetry of Departures

A
  • enjambment shows separation of speaker from society
  • no pause at end of stanza shows restlessness of those who do/dont abandon work
  • the pause in the line draws attention to the hyperbolic act of leaving
137
Q

analyse the quote ‘swagger […] crouch’ from Poetry of Departures

A
  • ‘swagger’ suggests confidence and arrogance suggesting people who abandon work perceive themselves as superior; speaker mocks this proposing they are foolish and naive to reality
  • ‘crouch’ seems weak suggesting their display of confidence is false
138
Q

analyse the quote ‘stubbly with goodness’ from Poetry of Departures

A
  • growing a beard is connected to hippie culture; an outward image symbolic of ‘letting go’
  • also suggests new, uncomfortable growth
139
Q

analyse the quote ‘so artificial / such a deliberate step backwards’ from Poetry of Departures

A
  • leaving work creates a facade of happiness; working is the natural and superior option
  • to lose work is to lose purpose
  • the man who throws away everything is caught in the same illusion as the person with their life in ‘perfect order’; both lives are artificial and evasive and a step backwards from the truth that life is always dissastisfying - there is no ‘poetry of departures’ except in our illusions
140
Q

analyse the quote ‘books; china; a life / reprehensibly perfect’ from Poetry of Departures

A
  • suggests life itself can become a commodity
  • oxymoronic
  • speaker thinks we can’t/shouldn’t have a perfect life; everyone wants what they can’t have so we should stop trying to chase it
  • our lives shouldn’t be flawless; we have to experiences struggles and hardship
141
Q

how does Larkin use structure in Church Going to illustrate his messages?

A
  • Larkin uses complex versification which contains sentences of ordinary/colloquial syntax
  • conveys a double voice: voice of the ordinary man through the sentence structure, alongside the voice of the poet in verse and rhythm
142
Q

analyse the title of Church Going

A
  • physical meaning: traditional routine of going to church
  • figurative meaning: church is reducing in influence and fading in relevance’
143
Q

analyse the quote ‘another church’ from Church Going

A
  • mocking undertone
  • lack of identity and individualising features; suggests religion and the church is repetitive and dull
144
Q

analyse the quote ‘brownish now’ from Church Going

A
  • suggests neglect; stale and past its best
  • symbolic of the church and religion; it is outdated - suggests religion doesn’t have that much value
145
Q

analyse the quote ‘some brass and stuff / up at the holy end’ from Church Going

A
  • dismissive
  • trivial description is emphatic of the physical realities without any spiritual connection
146
Q

analyse the quote ‘tense, musty, unignorable silence’ from Church Going

A

asyndetic triplet suggests the church is old and boring

147
Q

analyse the quote ‘God knows how long’ from Church Going

A
  • colloquial idiom suggests speaker doesn’t know much about the church but equally doesn’t care to learn; exaggerates speaker’s dismissive perception
  • pun on ‘god’; speaker still uses religious language suggesting religion still has an innate impact on society, regardless of lack of understanding
148
Q

analyse the quote ‘awkward reverence’ from Church Going

A

speaker pretends an indifference he does not feel, shown by his conventional reverence and embarassment

149
Q

analyse the quote ‘the roof looks almost new’ from Church Going

A
  • prioritises the physical building, further removing any sentimentality or value from religion
  • speaker finds worth in the physical church building, rather than the concept of religion
  • church has ‘almost’ been replaced
150
Q

analyse the quote ‘hectoring large-scale verses’ from Church Going

A
  • contrasts the preceding everyday diction, mimicking the rhetorical grandeur of the verses
  • intimidating and tedious; speaker mocks the length of sermons and perceives religion as dull, but equally has a recognition of the long-standing weight of the church
151
Q

analyse the quote ‘irish sixpence’ from Church Going

A
  • worthless donation underscores mocking tone, suggesting speaker is unbothered by religion
  • contrasts Larkin’s traditionally conservative views
152
Q

analyse the quote ‘Yet stop I did: in fact I often do’ from Church Going

A
  • ‘yet’ signals a turning point in mindset of speaker
  • caesura is a physical pause for the reader to contemplate
  • reflective of speaker’s inherent curiosity, especially towards societal upkeep of religion
153
Q

analyse the quote ‘wondering […] wondering’ from Church Going

A
  • shift from mockery to reflection/contemplation
  • anaphoric repetition is emphatic of speaker’s curiosity about the church
154
Q

analyse the quote ‘chronically on show’ from Church Going

A
  • ‘on show’ suggests speaker sees religion as solely performative
  • adverb connotes illness/disease, especiialy tiring or incurable ones; suggests religion should be accepted asnd we have to learn to live with it, despite it being habitually problematic
155
Q

analyse the quote ‘parchment, plate and pyx in locked cases’ from Church Going

A
  • revered but no longer accessible and in use suggests lost sentimentalty and purpose
  • speaker contemplates historical value of the church; Larkin’s conservative views prize historical value
156
Q

analyse the quote ‘power of some sort or another will go on’ from Church Going

A
  • it is impossible to completely eradicate beliege
  • without religion, society will cling to other kinds of belief; therefore, belief as a concept must have some kind of inherent value
  • indicative of both the necessity of some kind of belief but also the lack of value of those beliefs, as they can be so easily changed/replaced
  • faith offers comfort/purpose/answers to the unexplainable
157
Q

analyse the quote ‘seemingly at random’ from Church Going

A

superstitions which may succeed the church express a yearning in man for the transcendant and mystical which the poet insists are illusory

158
Q

analyse the quote ‘grass, weedy pavement, brambles, buttress, sky’ from Church Going

A
  • asyndetic list of physical objects contrast abstract concepts
  • nature outlives belief and religion; in the absencew of belief, we only have the physical world
159
Q

analyse the quote ‘a shape less recognisable each week; a purpose more obscure’ from Church Going

A
  • parallel phrasing; connection of physical ruin to fading purpose; value of religion is tied to the physical world as it had lost any sentiment
  • without the recognisable shape of the church, the purpose of religion becomes blurred
  • religion is fragile and baseless, and lacks strength and power
160
Q

analyse the quote ‘some ruin-bibber, randy for antique’ from Church Going

A
  • ‘some’ is unspecific, creating a generalised separation
  • sexual connotation of ‘randy’ sues taboo language; Larkin mocks those who he belives will cling on to religion as the church fades
161
Q

analyse the quote ‘bored, uninformed, knowing the ghostly silt /dispersed, yet tending to this cross of ground / through suburb scrub because it held unspilt’ from Church Going

A
  • ‘ghostly silt’ suggests church no longer contains residue of the divine
  • almost innate actions/natural response
  • upholding value of the church despite speaker lacking knowledge and feeling unexcited by the church
  • ‘unspilt’ suggests religion has longevity; speaker eecognsises the historical value of religion
162
Q

analyse the quote ‘marriage, and birth, and death’ from Church Going

A

speaker values the church’s ability to contain such significant, existential concepts as these

163
Q

analyse the quote ‘special shell’ from Church Going

A
  • physical building protects the value of religion OR the shell is hollow so the true value of religion has fade completely
  • it is important but not in itself; it is a symbol for/ hold important things/ideas
164
Q

analyse the quote ‘a serious house on serious earth’ from Church Going

A

repetition of serious suggests speaker understands the worthy role religion plays in society, even though he is detached from this; the future of religion is secure

165
Q

analyse the quote ‘all our compulsions meet […] and robed as destinies’ from Church Going

A

the church has a stabilising/harmonising influence that reminds us that the choices we make in life are not to be taken lightly, and this function can ‘never be obselete’

166
Q

analyse the quote ‘a hunger in himself to be more serious [..] that so many dead lie round’ from Church Going

A
  • innate human nature; affirmation of faith in man’s integrity and a refusal to drift into a cyncisim that depreciates human life
  • ‘dead’ is a sobering testament ot life’s fleeting transitoriness
167
Q

how does Larkin use structure and rhyme in I Remember, I Remember to illustrate his messages?

A
  • purposefully concealed/covert rhyme scheme
  • the 9-line rhyme scheme is hidden amongst the 5-line stanzas and the tail line, separated by structure, is connected by rhyme
  • rhyming pattern constantly shifts (rhymes occur at different places within the stanzaic structure) creating a nagging familiarity and then disorientation, reflecting the speaker’s experience
168
Q

analyse the quote ‘by a different line’ from i remember, i remember

A
  • polysemic
  • literal trainline
  • figurative reference to the passage of time and aging; speaker’s new perspective and experience of his home-town
169
Q

analyse the quote ‘cold new year’ from i remember, i remember

A
  • pathetic fallacy
  • Coventry is uninviting, unwelcoming, and bleak; opposite to stereotypical connotations of warmth, happiness, and a haze of nostalgia tied to childhood
  • alternatively, it is bracing and fresh, representative of the speaker’s new persepctive and the truth of Coventry
  • ‘new year’ underscores the temporal distance between the speaker and his cbildhood
170
Q

analyse the quote ‘‘Why, Coventry!’ I exclaimed. ‘I was born here.’’ from i remember, i remember

A
  • exclamative bursts out before its natural place at the end of the sentence; reflects a flush of enthusiasm
  • bathos; immediate surprise and excitement of ‘why!’ contrasts boring statement of ‘I was born here.’, undercutting any genuine attachment and reduces the relationship to simple practicality
  • use of speech suggests it is jusst an amusing anecote; unimportant
171
Q

analyse the quote ‘Squinnied for a sign / that this was still the town that had been ‘mine’’ from i remember, i remember

A
  • ‘squinnied’ is a dialectic, suggesting a connection to place; suggests his childhood will always be a part of him, perhaps representative of a deep-rooted sense of belonging - or is this a mockery?
  • alternatively, it could be the speaker’s desire to find a sense of connection with his childhood; this is futile in light of his genuine emotions
  • squinting suggests he can no longer properly make sense of his hometown; he is an outsider
  • inverted commas used to mock the idea that a person can have a deep connection with a place, and feel it is theirs
172
Q

analyse the quote ‘I wasn’t even clear’ from i remember, i remember

A

adverb suggests detachment to coventry and a lackc of knowledge

173
Q

analyse the quote ‘cycle-crates […] family hols?’ from i remember, i remember

A
  • speaker attempts to summon an appropriate enthusiasm and nostalgia
  • colloquial rhetorical question is almost mocking
174
Q

analyse the quote ‘a whistle went: / things moved’ from i remember, i remember

A
  • ‘whistle’ is a signal for him to move on; the transformation of adulthood and representative of desire to leave Coventry as a young person
  • ‘things moved’ polysemic: physicala and temporal distance - temporal metaphor underscores the passage of time
175
Q

analyse the quote ‘“where you ‘have your roots?’” No, only where my childhood was unspent’ from i remember, i remember

A
  • idiom emphasises speaker’s lack of connection to Coventry; implies stereotypically we experience a sense of identity tied to place
  • use of speech; casual conversation triggers speaker to reflect on childhood
  • blunt, harsh response is indicative of lack of connection
  • Hardy-esque negation contrasts stereotypical views of childhood; speaker is resentful and feels he has been deceived by society to expect more - ‘unspent’ suggests it has been unused/unexplored; speaker didn’t have formative experiences
176
Q

analyse the quote ‘i did not invent / blinding theologies’ from i remember, i remember

A
  • complex language signifies a refusal to engage in childhood memory
  • repeated negators show all the things his childhood was not, all the things missing from it
177
Q

analyse the quote ‘splendid family […] the boys all biceps and the girls all chest’ from i remember, i remember

A
  • Larkin mockes the contrived perfection, whilst being jealous of it
  • americanised imagery is defined by lack of depth; larkin mocks these stereotypical views as he doesn’t feel a sense of connection to his family
  • also presents speaker as an outsider; as well as mocking, there is an underlying notion that the speaker would have liked to experience this
178
Q

analyse the quote ‘‘all became a burning mist’’ from i remember, i remember

A
  • cliched and stereotupical; supposedly universal and formative
  • speaker is almost angry at himself for having entertained romantic illusions of his past
179
Q

analyse the quote ‘‘nothing, like something, happens anywhere’ from i remember, i remember

A
  • suggests his childhood was irrelevant and unremarkable; nothing exciting OR traumatic
  • speaker suggests having an unremarkable childhood is a universal experience and nostalgia is idealised and romanticised
180
Q

how does Larkin use rhyme in At Grass to illustrate his messages?

A
  • ABCABC shceme
  • rolling or galloping feel recalls days of former gflory
181
Q

analyse the quote ‘cold shade they shelter in’ from At Grass

A
  • pathetic fallacy; bland, mundane, almost melancholic
  • even though it is boring, they feel protected by that; it becomes relaxing, safe, gentle, calm, comforting - out off the sun = ‘spotlight’
182
Q

analyse the quote ‘distresses’ from At Grass

A

deliberately abstract and unenergetic verbs; calm mood

183
Q

analyse the wuote ‘crops grass, and moves about / - the other seeming to look on -‘ from At Grass

A
  • plain triple verbs
  • repetitive structure = monotonous
  • simplicity and routine
184
Q

analyse the quote ‘fable’ from At Grass

A

connotations of storytelling and myths

185
Q

analyse the quote ‘of cups and stakes and handicaps’ from At Grass

A
  • polysyndetic listing shows past things that were once important to them, but it was never useufl to the horses
  • chaos, excitement, achievement; pressure to constantly perform put on them by humans; becomes overworked and exploititive
186
Q

analyse the quote ‘to inlay faded, classic junes’ from At Grass

A
  • ‘inlay’ connotes trophies, medals; past success and game; characterised by prestige
  • almost storybook retelling
187
Q

analyse the quote ‘silks at the start […] squadrons of empty cars and heat’ from At Grass

A
  • lots of sibilance; noise and energy of race meeting; excitement and intensity of former identity
  • more grammar, shorter, aggressive phrases vs semicolons in first stanza; fast, harsh, exciting, chaotic, overstimulating, overhwleming
  • war lexis; fierve competition, high stakes
  • ‘heat’ contrasts ‘cold shade’
188
Q

analyse the quote ‘do memories plague their ears like flies? / they shake their heads’ from At Grass

A
  • rhetorical or hyperphora
  • connotations of death and disease
  • simile; time has allowed them to heal and memories have faded as their names have
  • memories are an unwelcome annoyance; are they saddened by the memories of their former exciting lives?
  • to shake of the flies or say no?; they are disturbed by flies byt the speaker is disturbed by memories
189
Q

analyse the quote ‘unmolesting meadows’ from At Grass

A

personification; meadows and nature are kind to the horses and offer them freedom; it is healing, unlike ‘molesting’ humans

190
Q

analyse the quote ‘have slipped their names, and stand at ease, / or gallop’ from At Grass

A
  • like a bridle; don’t feel like racehorses anymore; they have gained freedom through anonymity and are no longer controlled/defined by human world
  • they have the choice (shift in the horses’ lives); by relinquishing their identities and memories, they live in a continous present not plagued by furture or past
191
Q

analyse the quote ‘only the grooms’ from At Grass

A
  • people who care; no longer being exploited
  • there is a peacefulness that larkin doesn’t seem able to find in human life
192
Q

analyse the quote ‘channel boats come sidling’ from arrivals, departures

A
  • present tense reflects unexpected nature of decision making; constant
  • channel boats are metaphors for opportunities that occur and force us to make a decision; decision making is furtive but forceful and demandinig
  • ‘sidling’ connotes sneaking, sly, secretive; opportunities sneak up on us - don’t see them coming - but when they’re here, we have to make a decision
193
Q

analyse the quote ‘His advent blurted to the morning shore’ from arrivals, departures

A
  • loud and clumsy arrival of the man represents how we are often distracted by noise and other unimportant diversions when we make choices
  • ‘sidling’ vs ‘blurted’ - decision making is a sly process that demands action
  • ‘morning’ is symbolic of new beginnings, opportunities, and decisions; shows slightly more positive side of decision-making
  • ‘shore’ is the end of water and start of land, representing change
194
Q

analyse the quote ‘Arrivals lowing in a doleful distance’ from arrivals, departures

A
  • low, ominous sound represents the dread of making decisions
  • mournful; Larkin characterises the experience of decision-making as overwhelming and potentially causing grief or despair; emphasises the gravity and complexity of decision-making
195
Q

analyse the quote ‘horny dilemmas’ from arrivals, departures

A

personification of decision-making as seductive or tempting; reflective of how people can be led by their base desires in making decisions

196
Q

analyse the quote ‘Come and choose wrong, they cry’ from arrivals, departures

A
  • personification of opportunities as taunting reflects our constant fear of not making the right choice that will secure our happiness; of course, there is no right choice as happiness is subjective and unpredictable - Larkin suggests, therefore, we will necessarily always choose wrong
  • repetition shows cyclical nature of wrong decisions
197
Q

analyse the quote ‘And so we rise.’ from arrivals, departures

A
  • monosyllabic; emphatic of natural/innate response
  • collective pronoun; normally Larkin is an outsider, but here he included himself in society
  • speaker and society feel an innate call to action when facing a decision
198
Q

analyse the quote ‘At night again’ from arrivals, departures

A
  • transition from morning; decisions open and close the day - they are ever-present, constant, and inescapable
  • full 24 hour period had passed, but nothing has happened; opportunties are fleeting and temporary
199
Q

analyse the quote ‘O not for long, they cry’ from arrivals, departures

A
  • personified voice of opportunity suggests choices are fleeting; we can’t exist in a state of pasivity - Larkin encourages us to grasp opportunity
  • this warning against inertia exist equally with the knowledge of humanity’s inability to understand the demands of opprtunbity; decision-making becomes a separate entity, incomprehensible to society
200
Q

analyse the quote ‘never knowing / How safely we may disregard their blowing, / or if […] hapiness too is going’ from arrivals, departures

A
  • final rhyming triplet; creates speed resembling the fleeting nature of opportunities and the quick disappearance of our ability to choose
  • ‘disregard’ reflects ignoring decisions and living passively
  • ‘happiness too is going’ suggests the happiness leaves with the missed opprtunities; we cannot know for certain which choice will make us happier - living passively or grasping opportunity

Larkin Poems (5 decks)

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