The Less Deceived - Full Deck Flashcards
Larkin Revision
precious ____________’ (Latest Face)
vagrant
What does ‘vagrant’ mean and in which poem does it appear?
vagrant - homeless person. This is from Latest Face where the speaker describes the woman as being a ‘precious vagrant’.
What technique is used in the phrase ‘precious vagrant’? (Latest Face)
oxymoron
Your great arrival at my ___________’ (Latest Face)
eyes
yet to move/Into real _________ air/Brings no lasting attributive’ (Latest Face)
untidy
What does the metaphor ‘untidy air’ suggest about relationships?
They are confusing and impure
Bargains, suffering and _____________’ (Latest Face)
love
What technique is used here: ‘Bargains, suffering and love’ (Latest Face)
listing
What does the listing ‘bargains, suffering and love’ (from Latest Face) suggest about relationships?
They inevitably come with compromise and pain - love is placed at the end of this list, suggesting that it becomes secondary to these negative qualities.
____________ grow dark around us’ (Latest Face)
lies
What technique is used here: ‘lies grow dark around us’ (Latest Face)?
personification
Why does the speaker refer to the woman in Latest Face as a statue - ‘will/The statue of your beauty walk?’
He objectifies her as something beautiful to be admired (but also worries about her leaving)
What word (beginning with v) describes how the speaker is presented in Latest Face? e.g. ‘your great arrival at my eyes’
voyeur/voyeuristic
Which verb is used in Latest Face to show how the speaker sees himself as awkward and clumsy?
wade - ‘must I wade behind it’
What was Larkin called: ‘The saddest heart in the post-war ____________’?
supermarket
What was Larkin called? ‘The saddest __________ in the post-war supermarket.’
heart
What was Larkin called? ‘The saddest heart in the post- __________ supermarket.’
war
What did Larkin say about himself: ‘____________ is for me what daffodils were for Wordsworth.’
Deprivation
What did Larkin say about himself: ‘Deprivation is for me what _____________ were for Wordsworth.’
daffodils
How did Larkin describe his poetry? ‘Sad-eyed ___________.’
realism
What is the form used for the poem Whatever Happened?
It is a sonnet
What is the three-line interlocking rhyme scheme called that is used in Whatever Happened?
terza rima
Which poem describes the speaker’s attempts to rationalise and overcome an ambiguous trauma?
Whatever Happened?
What is the significance of the tight rhyme scheme (terza rima) that is used in Whatever Happened?
It symbolises how the speaker tries to control and compartmentalize the trauma he has experienced. However, this rhyme scheme is eventually broken in the final two lines, representing how the painful memory cannot be repressed.
‘Perspective brings ____________ we say’ (Whatever Happened?)
significance
What is the significance of the voice given to society in Whatever Happened? E.g. ‘perspective brings significance we say’
The quasi-philosophical language is intended to mock how we as a society try to rationalise and explain away the trauma we have experienced.
What is the significance of the narrator in Whatever Happened referring to the ‘latitude on a map’ and blaming what happened on ‘coastal bedding’?
The language shows a desire to reduce the trauma to something technical, rather than emotional.
Curses? The _____________? Struggling? (Whatever Happened?)
dark
What is the significance of the questions at the end of Whatever Happened? ‘Curses? The dark? Struggling?’
The incomplete, incoherent questions create a jarring tone, suggesting the speaker is left anxious and uncertain.
‘Easily then (though ________________)’ (Whatever Happened?)
pale
‘but find next day/All’s _______________ distant’ (Whatever Happened?)
Kodak
What is the significance of the narrator in Whatever Happened? referring to the memory as being ‘Kodak distant’?
It conveys how he wants to reduce the trauma to a photo - something that he can control and understand.
At the end of Whatever Happened? the main character questions - ‘Where’s the source/Of these yarns now’? - How might this have a double meaning?
Yarn can mean both a story and a type of thread. Therefore, Larkin suggests that the story of what happened, like unspooled thread, becomes tangled and difficult to make sense of.
What is the ambiguous trauma described in Whatever Happened supposedly based on?
Larkin’s affair with Patsy Strang, who was briefly pregnant with his child before suffering a miscarriage.
The motif of photography in Whatever Happened could have been influenced by…?
Larkin’s own interests - he was a keen amateur photographer.
What is the significant of the title ‘Absences’?
Larkin contemplates the vast power of the natural world when human influence is ‘absent’
In Absences, what connects the following words: ‘tilts’/’sighs’/’collapsing’/’drops’/’wilting’/’scrambling’?
These are all verbs - Larkin uses a huge number of verbs in the first stanza to show the fast-changing and energetic natural world.
‘A wave drops like a _________’ (Absences)
wall
In Absences, why does Larkin describe how ‘a wave drops like a wall’?
To convey the destructive, almost violent, power of nature. This also perhaps conveys the natural world as unrestricted and free.
In Absences, how does the focus shift from the first to the second stanza?
Whereas the first stanza describes the sea, the second depicts the sky.
In Absences, why does Larkin compare the sky to ‘lit-up galleries’?
To present it as something awe-inspiring and beautiful.
What is the significance of the exclamations that end the poem Absences: ‘Such attics cleared of me! Such absences!’
Larkin depicts a speaker that feels a joyful liberation - by contemplating the raw power of the natural world, his own existence seem trivial.
The poem Deceptions was originally titled…?
The Less Deceived
What is the significance of the poem Deceptions originally being titled The Less Deceived?
It suggests that Larkin considered the ideas in the poem to be central to the collection as a whole.
‘Even so distant, I can taste the __________’ (Deceptions)
grief
In Deceptions, why does the speaker say that he can ‘taste the grief’?
The speaker presents the young girl’s pain as something very specific and real.
‘the brisk brief/___________ of wheels along the street outside’ (Deceptions)
worry
In Deceptions, why does the narrator refer to the ‘worry of wheels along the street outside’?
Larkin uses personification to suggest that the young girl’s pain and anxiety is so great that it shapes her whole world.
‘___________ London bows the other way’ (Deceptions)
bridal
In Deceptions, what does ‘bridal London’ represent?
purity, innocence, virtue - because the girl has been sexually assaulted, she is seen as no longer having these attributes, which is why ‘bridal London bows the other way’
‘Your mind lay open like a drawer of ___________ ‘ (Deceptions
knives
In Deceptions, why does the speaker describe the young girl’s ‘mind lay open like a drawer of knives’?
To present the psychological anguish that the girl faces - her own mind is a place of threat and danger.
In Deceptions, why does Larkin present the female victim as being ‘less deceived’?
Although she has suffered a brutal sexual assault, she knows the cause of her pain. In contrast, her attacker is destined to be forever unfulfilled and unaware of why he feels such emptiness.
In Deceptions, why is the attacker presented as ‘stumbling’ and ‘breathless’?
Larkin presents him as clumsy and out of control - driven by his own base desires, he is destined to be perpetually disappointed and alone.
‘____________- shadowed people’ (Spring)
Green
‘children finger the ___________ grass’ (Spring)
awakened
What technique is used here: ‘children finger the awakened grass’ (Spring)?
personification
‘___________ a cloud stands, __________ a bird sings’ (Spring)
calmly
‘____________ my pursed-up way across the park’ (Spring)
threading
What does the word gratuitous mean, and in which poem is it used?
Gratuitous = free/giving. This is used in Spring to present the natural world as unrestricted and plentiful.
What technique is used here: ‘Is fold of untaught flower, is race of water// Is earth’s most multiple, excited daughter’? (Spring)
Anaphora. This presents the natural world as multiple and vast in its beauty.
‘earth’s most multiple, excited ___________’ (Spring)
daughter
Why does Larkin compare spring to ‘earth’s most multiple, excited daughter’? (Spring)
To present it as a time of new life, energy and vibrance.
What does the word craven mean, and in which poem is it used?
craven = cowardly. This is used in Spring, as the narrator suggests that the path he has chosen, which is different to broader societal norms, is seen by some as odd and cowardly.
Why does Larkin use an AB rhyme scheme in the first stanza of Spring?
The simple upbeat rhyme scheme is perhaps intended to represent the simple energy and joys of the spring season.
What is the effect of the punctuation used in Spring? …the balls that bounce, the dogs that bark, The branch-arrested mist of leaf, and me,
The caesura ‘, and me,’ shows a clear divide between the speaker and the vibrant spring season being described. Although he admires the vibrance of nature, he also feels removed from it.
In 1961, what was introduced in the UK that gave women greater independence?
The contraceptive pill
What was the 1960s called by some - conveying how it was seen as a time of increased freedoms and liberation?
The ‘swinging 60s’
‘__________ time-honoured irritant’ (Dry Point)
endlessly
‘endleslly time-honoured ____________’ (Dry Point)
irritant
What does the word ‘restively’ mean and in which poem does it appear?
restively = cannot be controlled. This appears in Dry Point - ‘a bubble is restively forming…’ - to describe the uncontrollable nature of sexual desire.
‘______________, intent, real’ (Dry Point)
bestial
What does the word bestial mean, and in which poem does it appear?
bestial = animal-like. This appears in Dry Point, suggesting how sexual desire makes us savage and primitive.
What technique is used here, and why? ‘the bright blown walls collapse’ (Dry Point)
Plosive alliteration - this represents a moment of sexual release.
‘What ______ hills, what salted, shrunken lakes’ (Dry Point)
ashen
In Dry Point, why does the speaker, after gratifying his sexual desires, refer to ‘ashen hills’ and ‘shrunken lakes’?
The barren, hopeless landscapes metaphorically represent how, even after giving in to his sexual desires, he is left unfulfilled and empty.
What is ‘Birmingham magic’ and why is is ‘discredited’? (Dry Point)
Birmingham magic refers to the city, which in the 1940s and 1950s was known for its jewelry and wedding rings. This becomes ‘discredited’, as sexual desire shows marriage to be a lie.
What does the ‘padlocked cube of light’ symbolise in Dry Point?
The ‘cube of light’ symbolises a state of purity and innocence, free from the corrupting influence of sexual desire. However, the speaker suggests that this is a state he will never be able to achieve - it it ‘padlocked’ meaning he can ‘obtain no right of entry’.
What is Myxomatosis?
A deadly disease that affects rabbits
Caught in the centre of a ___________ field’ (Myxomatosis)
soundless
What does the word inexplicable mean, and in which poem does it feature?
inexplicable = can’t be explained. This is used in Myxomatosis (‘hot inexplicable hours’) to show how the rabbit is left ignorant and powerless.
What technique is used here? ‘Where were its teeth concealed?’ (Myxomatosis)
Personification. The myxomatosis virus is depicted as an external predator, showing the rabbit’s ignorance about the nature of death.
‘You may have thought things would come right again/If you could only keep quite still and ____________’ (Myxomatosis)
wait
What does the word ‘suppurate’ mean, and in which poem does it feature?
Suppurate = to rot/fester. This is used in Myxomatosis (‘in what jaws you were to suppurate’) to convey the brutal, inescapable fate of the rabbit.
What is the significance of the form used in Myxomatosis here: ‘You seem to ask.// I make a sharp reply’?
The line break symbolises how the speaker ends the rabbit’s life with his ‘sharp reply’. However, this is an act of compassion, relieving the rabbit of the pain caused by the Myxomatosis virus.
Always too eager for the futuure, we/Pick up bad _________ of expectancy’ (Next, Please)
habits
Always too eager for the futuure, we/Pick up bad habits of _____________’ (Next, Please)
expectancy
the tiny, clear ______________ armada of promises draw near’ (Next, Please)
sparkling
What is the main technique used in Next, Please?
extended metaphor
In Next, Please, how does Larkin mock the attitude of society?
By using a voice that is childishly impatient and excitable - via the exclamations:
How slow they are! And how much time they waste/Refusing to make haste!’ // ‘Yet still they leave us holding wretched __________’ (Next, Please)
stalks
What technique is used in the phrase ‘they leave us holding wretched stalks’ from Next, Please?
Metaphor. This connotes the idea of how we are left clinging on to dead dreams.
What is bathos?
Bathos - an abrupt change in tone, normally used to create comedy.
In which poem is bathos used?
Next Please
How is bathos used in Next, Please?
The ship is initially described as majestic with ‘brasswork prinked and ‘each rope distinct’. However, the language then dramatically shifts as Larkin refers to the ‘golden tits’ of the ship’s figurehead.
Why is Next, Please structured in rhyming couplets?
Larkin is trying to create and upbeat, child-like tone to represent society’s naivety and immaturity.
Why is there an end stop in the penultimate stanza of Next, Please: ‘For waiting so devoutly and so long. // But we are wrong’
To separate the foolish illusions of society from the reality. This serves as a volta in the poem.
What is significant about the language here? ‘But we are wrong’ (Next, Please)
It’s monosyllabic - represents the blunt and unavoidable truth.
In Next, Please what is the ‘one ship [that] ‘is seeking us’?
death
How is colour imagery used here: ‘black sailed unfamiliar’ (Next, Please)?
The colour black represents death - a contrast to the ‘golden tits’ of how we falsely view life.
In Next, Please, why is the ‘black sailed’ ship described as being ‘unfamiliar’?
Because Larkin is suggesting that we don’t think or truly accept death - this idea is also shown in the poem Wants - ‘ the costly aversion of the eyes away from death’.
A huge and ___________ silence’ (Next, Please)
birdless
In Next, Please, why does the ‘black sailed unfamiliar’ (that represents death) leave behind ‘a huge and birdless silence’?
Larkin is suggesting that after death there is nothing; death is an absolute end to all life.
A huge and birdless _________’ (Next, Please)
silence
Arrivals, Departures uses the image of a travelling salesman arriving on the ‘morning shore’ to represent the difficulty of c_____________
choice
In Arrivals, Departures, the image of a boat arriving on the ‘morning shore’ was likely influenced by….?
Larkin living in Belfast at the time, and regularly making the journey back to England on a ‘channel boat’.
in Arrivals, Departures, the boat comes ‘sidling’ into harbour, arriving in a quiet, almost secretive, manner - why?
To represent how we are often unaware of the choices that we face, until it is too late.
‘His advent ___________ to the morning shore’ (Arrivals, Departures)
blurted
In Arrivals, Departures, what does the word ‘blurted’ mean?
blurted means to speak loudly and without thinking.
In Arrivals, Departures, the travelling salesman arrives in a loud and somewhat clumsy fashion - why?
To represent how we are often distracted by noise and other unimportant diversions when we make choices.
‘we barely recalled from __________’ (Arrivals, Departures)
sleep
In Arrivals, Departures, Larkin refers to the ‘doleful distance’ - what does ‘doleful’ mean?
causing sadness/grief
In Arrivals, Departures, why does Larkin refer to the ‘doleful distance’?
‘doleful’ means to cause sadness/greif; the speaker thinks that the choices we make will - in the ‘distance’ of the future - make us feel a sense of pain and regret.
‘Come and choose __________, they cry, come and choose ________’ (Arrivals, Departures)
wrong
In Arrivals, Departures, who or what does Larkin imagine saying - ‘come and choose wrong’?
Larkin personifies the ‘dilemmas’ (stanza 2) as seductive and tempting, drawing us in to making the wrong decision.
‘Calling the traveller now, the _____________ bound’ (Arrivals, Departures)
outward
In Arrivals, Departures, what is the significance of the boat that arrived on the ‘morning shore’ (stanza 1) turning into the ‘outward bound’ (stanza 3)
It represents how the opportunities, once new and within reach, are now disappearing.
In Arrivals, Departures, the poem begins in the ‘morning’, representing new opportunities and a fresh start. However, by the end of the poem, it has become ‘night’ - why?
To represent how these new opportunities have disappeared and been replaced by uncertainty and darkness.
In Arrivals, Departures, Larkin rhymes the three final lines of the poem - ‘knowing’/’blowing’/’going’ - why?
This is intended to quicken the tempo of the final lines, representing the fast disappearing sense of choice.
What is the significance of the clipped title - ‘Arrivals, Departures’?
It represents how quickly the choices that ‘arrive’ in our life end up ‘departing’ again.
What is the main technique employed by Larkin in No Road?
Extended metaphor
In No Road, what is significant about Larkin’s use of a line break to split the opening sentence - ‘let the road between us/fall to disuse.
The line break acts as a representation of the new separation between the speaker and the unnamed character.
No Road was written in 1951, soon after Larkin had called off his engagement to…
Ruth Bowman
The end of which relationship is thought to have shaped the poem No Road?
The end of Larkin’s brief engagement to Ruth Bowman.
‘time’s __________ agents loose’ (No Road)
eroding
In No Road, why does Larkin refer to ‘time’s eroding agents’?
Time is presented as a slow, but inevitable, force of change. Whereas the couple in the poem struggle to separate and move on, time is presented as an undeniable force that will cause the break.
In the final stanza of No Road, how and why is there a shift in the pronoun usage?
The plural ‘us’ from the first stanza is replaced by the singular forms ‘I’ and ‘you’. This conveys the increasing sense of separation towards the end of the poem.
‘To watch that world come up like a cold _________’ (No Road)
sun
In No Road, why does the narrator compare a life without his partner to watching a ‘world come up like a cold sun’
To present how such an existence would be unnatural and lifeless.
At the end of No Road, the syntax becomes muddled and confusing to represent the speaker’s guilt and anxiety. He ultimately has to accept that is ‘ailment’ is that…?
He prefers a simple life of solitude to the complexity and compromise of being with another.
‘This empty ___________, this sky to blandness scoured’ (Triple Time)
street
‘This air, a little indistinct with __________’ (Triple Time)
autumn
In Triple Time, which time period is described as being ‘a time unrecommended by event’
the present
In Triple Time, how does Larkin suggest we view the present?
As dull and devoid of meaning
This is the future furthest childhood saw//Between long houses, under _________ skies’ (Triple Time)
travelling
What does the word ‘lambent’ mean and in which poem is it used?
lambent = glowing (Triple Time)
In Triple Time, how does Larkin suggest we view the future?
As exciting and full of possibility
What are the different meanings of the title Triple Time?
- Triple time refers to the past, the present and the future (all of which feature in the poem) 2. Triple time is a fast paced musical tempo - representing how quickly time moves forward
‘A valley cropped by fat _________ chances’ (Triple Time)
neglected
In Triple Time, which time period is metaphorically described as ‘a valley cropped by fat neglected chances’
The past
In Triple Time, how does Larkin suggest we view the past?
With a sense of regret, due to the multiple chances that we failed to seize.
What does ‘insensately’ mean, and in which poem does it feature?
Insensately = lacking awareness. This is used in Triple Time to describe how we see our past selves.
At last you __________ up the album’ (Lines)
yielded
Too much ____________, too rich’ (Lines)
confectionary
What kind of semantic field is used in the opening stanza of Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album?
semantic field of food (the woman is presented as a commodity to be consumed)
What are some of the quotations that link to the semantic field of food in Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album?
‘too much confectionary’
I choke on such nutritious images // ‘My swivel eye hungers’ // ‘I ___________ on such nutritious images’ (Lines)
choke
How is ‘art’ described in Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album? ‘___________ and ______________’
faithful and disappointing
In Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album, why does the speaker see photography as ‘disappointing’?
It is too ‘faithful’ - it does not leave room for imagination
So I am left to _________’ (Lines)
mourn
Why does Larkin feel saddened when he considers the girl’s past in Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album?
It is something that he is excluded from - it is ‘a past that no one can now share’.
It holds you like a __________’ (Lines)
heaven
What technique is used in the following: ‘it holds you like a heaven’ (Lines)
simile
In Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album, what it is that the speaker says ‘holds you [the girl] like a heaven’?
the past
Which quotation in Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album suggests that the past preserves the woman in an eternal state of wonder and purity.
‘it holds you like a heaven’
‘Obedient daily ___________’ (Skin)
dress
What is the main technique used in the poem Skin?
Extended metaphor - Larkin compares our skin to ‘obedient daily dress’.
In Skin, why does Larkin compare our skin to ‘obedient daily dress’?
He is suggesting that skin, like clothing, protects us. However, we tend to see it as unremarkable and simply ‘obedient’.
‘You cannot always keep/That _________ young surface’ (Skin)
unfakable
In Skin, why does Larkin refer to the ‘unfakable young surface’?
He is suggesting that there is something inherently honest and authentic about being young.
‘You must learn your _________’ (Skin)
lines
What technique is used here: ‘You must learn your lines’ (Skin)
A pun. Larkin is referring to the lines that inevitably appear on ageing skin, but also the way that we must all learn our roles and play the part we have been given.
‘Of the continuous coarse/Sand-laden wind, _____________’ (Skin)
time
What technique is used here: ‘Of the continuous coarse/Sand-laden wind, time’ (Skin)
metaphor
In Skin, why does Larkin compare time to a ‘continuous coarse/ Sand-laden wind’?
He is suggesting that the passing of time is unstoppable, as well as suggesting how growing older brings harsh (‘coarse’) truths that cannot be avoided.
And pardon me, that/ I could find, when you were new/ No __________ festivity /To wear you at’ (Skin)
brash
Does the poem Skin use a regular rhyme scheme, and why?
Yes. There is a regular ABACBC rhyme scheme. This is employed by Larkin to represent the inevitable and continual passing of time, which is marked by our skin’s ageing.
‘Tightly-folded __________’ (Born Yesterday)
bud
What technique is used here: ‘Tightly-folded bud’ (Born Yesterday)?
metaphor
In Born Yesterday, why does the speaker compare the young girl to a ‘Tightly-folded bud’
To convey ideas of potential and possibility, but also to suggest that at this early age she is protected from societal pressures and expectations.
Who is Born Yesterday written for?
Sally Amis
Who was Sally Amis?
Kingsley Amis’ daughter. Kingsley Amis was a friend of Larkin and a fellow writer and part of The Movement.
Larkin was often considered to be part of a literary group called….?
The Movement
What characterised the poetry of The Movement?
It was unsentimental, honest and rooted in everyday experience.
The writers of The Movement rejected the poetry of…?
The Modernists
Why did the poets of The Movement reject the writing of The Modernists?
They saw their writing as too obscure and too removed from real life.
‘Not the usual __________/ About being beautiful’ (Born Yesterday)
stuff
‘____________ will all wish you that’ (Born Yesterday)
They
Why does the narrator of Born Yesterday refer to the expectations of society as ‘the usual stuff’?
The colloquial language suggests its unimportance, as well as conveying such ideas lack originality.
‘About __________ / ___________ ‘ (Born Yesterday)
being beautiful
What technique is used here: ‘Not the usual stuff/ About being beautiful’ (Born Yesterday)
plosive alliteration via the repeated ‘b’ sound.
What is the intended effect of the plosive alliteration - ‘About being beautiful’ (Born Yesterday)
The harsh plosive sounds are intended to portray the speaker’s blunt rejection of these stereotypical ideas.
‘Nothing ____________ /To pull you off your balance’ (Born Yesterday)
uncustomary
The second stanza of Born Yesterday begins ‘But if it shouldn’t’ - what terminology could be used to label this turning point?
Volta
What are the five qualities that the speaker of Born Yesterday wants the young girl to be?
skilled, vigilant, flexible, unemphasised, enthralled
Does Born Yesterday use a regular rhyme scheme?
No. It is not regular, although there are some instances of rhyme.
Why does Larkin employ an irregular rhyme scheme in Born Yesterday?
Because he does not want her to have a ‘regular’ life. He wishes for her to be free from societal expectations, like the unstructured rhyme scheme.
How might the title of Born Yesterday be considered a pun?
It has two meanings: 1. In a literal sense, it refers to the very recent birth of Sally Amis. 2. It has connotations of naivety and foolishness. Larkin suggests the cliched expectations of society should be seen in this way.
Why does Born Yesterday end with a rhyming couplet?
The final couplet creates a tone of resolution and certainty, as Larkin concludes his poem by emphasising that happiness can only be found by avoiding generic cliches.
In Wedding Wind, what technique is used in the title and throughout the poem where Larkin refers to the ‘wind’?
pathetic fallacy
In Wedding Wind, what might the extended metaphor of the ‘wind’ represent?
significant, almost elemental change.
‘a stable door was _________, again and again’ (Wedding Wind)
banging
What terminology might be used to describe the verb ‘banging’ in the line below: ‘a stable door was banging again and again’ (Wedding Wind)?
onomatopoeia
‘leaving me stupid in ___________’ (Wedding Wind)
candlelight
In Wedding Wind, what is significant about the female character being left feeling ‘stupid in candlelight’?
This image juxtaposes the conventional ideas of ‘candlelight’ - romance and intimacy. Instead, in the first stanza at least, she feels foolish and alone.
‘Seeing my face in the _________ candlestick yet seeing nothing’ (Wedding Wind)
twisted
In Wedding Wind, why does Larkin describe the newly married woman ‘seeing her face in the twisted candlestick yet seeing nothing’
The adjective ‘twisted’ perhaps suggests that, as a result of marriage her identity has become warped or corrupted in some way.
How is there a shift at the beginning of the second stanza of Wedding Wind?
There is a shift in time (from the wedding night to the next day) but also a shift in tone, as the ‘sun’ seems to bring a more optimistic, hopeful tone.
‘this ____________ morning shares my bed?’ (Wedding Wind)
perpetual
Why does the newly married woman in Wedding Wind describe that the ‘perpetual morning shares my bed’
The ‘perpetual morning’ represents her new love and the beginning of her marriage - it is so intense she feels that it will be ‘perpetual’ (eternal)
‘Can even ____________ dry up these new delighted lakes’ (Wedding Wind)
death
Why might the newly married woman in Wedding Wind question whether ‘even death [will] dry up these new delighted lakes’
The ‘new delighted lakes’ are a metaphor for the vitality and joy of her new marriage. Her love seems so powerful she wonders if even ‘death’ could end it.
‘Our kneeling as ___________ by all-generous waters’ (Wedding Wind)
cattle
What technique is used by Larkin in the final image of Wedding Wind - ‘our kneeling as cattle’?
simile
In Wedding Wind, why does Larkin have the female character describe herself and her husband to be ‘kneeling as cattle by all-generous waters’?
‘kneeling’ has obvious religious connotations, suggesting their love is almost holy. The image of them drinking from ‘all generous waters’ perhaps suggests that they are nourished by the simple love they share.
In I Remember, I Remember, Larkin uses the same title as a poem by ________?
Thomas Hood
Why does Larkin use the same title for I Remember, I Remember as that used for a poem by Thomas Hood?
Larkin’s poem is intended to be a challenge to the sentimental, cliched view of childhood in Hood’s poem.
I Remember, I Remember describes a train arriving in the city of ________?
Coventry
Contextually, what is the significance of I Remember, I Remember being set in Coventry?
Coventry was Larkin’s place of birth and his childhood home. We might therefore suggest that, to an extent, the poem is autobiographical.
‘Why, Coventry!’ I ____________’ (I Remember, I Remember)
exclaimed
What is the significance of the speaker beginning I Remember, I Remember by saying ‘Why Coventry! I exclaimed’
The exclamation is intended to convey the speaker’s initial excitement and surprise upon inadvertently returning to Coventry.
‘I leant far out, and _____________ for a sign’ (I Remember, I Remember)
squinnied
In I Remember, I Remember, what does the word ‘squinnied’ mean?
To squint. The speaker says he ‘squinnied for a sign’ suggesting that he cannot properly see or make sense of Coventry - he is an outsider.
That this was still the town that had been ‘___________’ (Reasons for Attendance)
mine
In I Remember, I Remember, why does Larkin use inverted commas for the word ‘mine’: ‘squinnied for a sign // That this was still the town that had been ‘mine’
Larkin is mocking the idea that a person can have a deep connection with a place and feel it is ‘mine’.
That this was still the town that had been ‘mine’ // ‘where my childhood was ____________’ (I Remember, I Remember)
unspent
In I Remember, I Remember, what technique does Larkin use in the lines: ‘did not invent blinding theologies’/wasn’t spoken to by an old hat’/’I never ran to…’
Repeated negators
In I Remember, I Remember, why does Larkin use repeated negators, e.g. ‘did not invent blinding theologies’/wasn’t spoken to by an old hat’/’I never ran to…’
To show all the things that the speaker’s childhood was not - all the things that were missing from his youth.
the boys all biceps and the girls all __________’ (I Remember, I Remember)
chest
Why does the narrator in I Remember, I Remember, describe the peers of his youth as ‘the boys all biceps and the girls all chest’
He is mocking these gender cliches; however, it also presents the narrator as an outsider.
____________ like something happens anywhere’ (I Remember, I Remember)
nothing
‘But to jump, like ________, with floating skirt into my head’ (If, My Darling)
Alice
What technique is used here: ‘But to jump, like Alice, with floating skirt’ (If, My Darling)?
simile (this could also be considered an intertextual reference)
Why does Larkin have the speaker in If, My Darling compare his partner to Alice (in Wonderland)?
To suggest that he sees her as naive and child-like. He is also portraying how if she saw the real him, like Alice, she would enter an upside-down world of chaos and confusion.
What technique is used here: ‘She would find no tables and chairs // No mahogany claw-footed sideboards, // No undisturbed embers’ (If, My Darling)
anaphoric repetition/anaphora
In If, My Darling why does Larkin use anaphoric repetition: ‘no tables and chairs // No mahogany claw-footed sideboards // No undisturbed embers’?
To convey how the world the ‘darling’ would find would be entirely unfamiliar and deeply uncomfortable.
‘Monkey-__________, fish-__________’ (If, My Darling)
brown/grey
In If, My Darling, why does Larkin use colour imagery (‘Monkey-brown, fish-grey’) to describe the speaker’s true self?
These colours are dark and have connotations of sickliness, conveying the speaker’s true self as being defined by a sense of bleakness and disease.
What is the semantic field used in If, My Darling via the following: ‘sicken’, ‘unwholesome’, ‘grave’?
This is a semantic field of death and decay, which is used to present the speaker’s true self as being unpleasant and corrupted.
In If, My Darling, who or what is the ‘Grecian statue kicked in the privates’?
This metaphor represents the speaker. Whereas once his darling may have seen him as noble and admirable (like a ‘Grecian statue’) if she saw the real him she would perceive him to be embarrassing and emasculated (‘kicked in the privates’)
Each one _________ - ___________ with meaning and meaning’s rebuttal’ (If, My Darling)
double-yolked
In If, My Darling, why does Larkin say that the ‘darling’ would hear a noise that is ‘double-yoked with meaning and meaning’s rebuttal’?
To convey that, were she to face the speaker’s true self, the ‘darling’ would hear a mass of contradictions and lies.
‘unpicks the world like a _________’ (If, My Darling)
knot
‘Might knock my darling off her ______________ pivot’ (If, My Darling)
unpriceable
What technique is used here: ‘unpicks the world like a knot’ (If, My Darling)
simile
If, My Darling is structured as _____________
tercets
Does If, My Darling use a regular rhyme scheme?
Yes, it is an ABA rhyme scheme.
Why does Larkin structure If, My Darling using tercets?
We might suggest the uneven verse length (3 lines) represents the uneven, chaotic nature of the speaker’s mind. Also, the 3-line structure perhaps represents the three people the poem is about: 1. the darling 2. the speaker’s illusory self 3. The speaker’s real self.
‘__________, I have never found’ (Places, Loved Ones)
No
‘This is my _________ / ___________ here I shall stay’ (Places, Loved Ones)
proper ground
In Places, Loved Ones what is significant about the language Larkin uses when imitating the voice of society?
The language is pompous (self-important) and somewhat cliched - e.g. ‘proper ground’/’special one’. This is done to mock the generic ideas of finding happiness through a person or place.
Why does Larkin use multiple negators in Places, Loved Ones, e.g. ‘NO, I have never found’/’NOR met that special one’/’You want NO choice’
To convey how the speaker is entirely and forcefully rejecting the cliched expectations of society.
What are the connotations of the word ‘claim’ and ‘prove’ used in Places, Loved Ones?
These words have formal, legal connotations - this conveys the speaker’s view that romantic relationships are actually just a form of restrictive contract.
What is the correct term for the 8-line stanzas, like those used in Places, Loved Ones?
octaves
Why does Places, Loved Ones begin with the speaker saying, ‘No….’?
He is responding (and rejecting) the expectations of society - that we should all find happiness through a person or place.
‘you’re __________ none the less, to act’ (Places, Loved Ones)
bound
In the final verse of Places, Loved Ones, why does the speaker say the speaker is ‘bound’?
To convey ideas of restriction. The speaker suggests that ‘having missed them’ - the person you hoped to meet and love - you are trapped by having to pretend you are happy with what you ‘settled for’.
Does Places, Loved Ones use a regular rhyme scheme?
Yes, a regular AB rhyme scheme.
Places, Loved Ones was written just as Larkin was moving from Belfast to ___________?
Hull
How might Places, Loved Ones be linked to events in Larkin’s own life at the time?
He was leaving Belfast after working as a librarian there. Therefore, like the speaker in the poem, he had no solid sense of home at the time.
‘Once I am sure there’s nothing _________ / __________’ (Church Going)
going on
What is the significance of the opening line from Church Going? ‘Once I am sure there’s nothing going on’
The phrase ‘nothing going on’ perhaps suggests the speaker views the church with suspicion - almost as a place of strange, cultish practices.
sprawlings of flowers, cut // For Sunday, ___________ now; (Church Going)
brownish
In Church Going, what is the significance of the ‘brownish’ flowers and the ‘musty’ silence?
Both ideas have connotations of something stale and past its best. This is perhaps what Larkin is suggesting about the church and the role of religion.
‘some brass and _________’ (Church Going)
stuff
What is the significance of Larkin referring to the sacred items in the church as ‘some brass and stuff’?
It suggests that the speaker sees the church, and the objects in it, as insignificant and dull.
What technique is used in the title of Church Going?
A pun
How does Larkin employ a pun in the title of Church Going?
‘Church Going’ could literally refer to the practice of ‘going’ to (attending) church. However, it could also be describing how the relevance of the church is ‘going’ from society.
In Church Going, what worthless currency does the speaker donate to the church?
‘An Irish sixpence’
In Church Going, why does the speaker donate ‘an Irish sixpence’?
This currency is worthless, so this gesture is used by Larkin to convey how, initially at least, the protagonist sees the church as having no value.
Where does Larkin employ a volta in Church Going?
At the beginning of the third stanza. After previously commenting that the church was ‘not worth stopping for’, the speaker then admits ‘Yet stop I did: in fact I often do’
What is a volta?
The turning point in a poem
‘__________ what to look for; _______________, too…’ (Church Going)
wondering
Why is repetition used in Church Going as the speaker describes: ‘Wondering what to look for; wondering, too, // When churches fall completely out of use // What we shall turn them into
To show a more reflective and less dismissive tone. The speaker contemplates the future of the church.
In the penultimate stanza of Church Going, the narrator describes the church as a ‘special ____________’
shell
What adjective is repeated in the final stanza of Church Going to describe the church and its role in society?
serious.
Which word is used in the final stanza of Church Going to convey how the church will always have an unexplainable power to attract people?
‘gravitating’
What did Larkin’s father tell him about religion?
‘Never believe in God!’
How did Larkin refer to religion?
‘absolute balls’
‘Light, chill and yellow, __________ the serene foreheads of houses’ (Coming)
bathes
In Coming, why is the light described to ‘bathe the serene foreheads of houses’?
Larkin is perhaps trying to evoke an image of baptism, suggesting that the coming spring is purifying the landscape from the ravages of winter.
In Coming, what phrase is repeated in the middle chorus part of the poem?
‘It will be spring soon’
In Coming, why does Larkin repeat the phrase, ‘It will be spring soon’?
To convey the speaker’s excitement and anticipation of the coming spring. The monosyllabic nature of this phrase also conveys the simple beauty of the new season.
‘Feel like a ____________’ (Coming)
child
In Coming, why does the speaker ‘feel like a child’?
When observing spring and the return of life, he feels a sense of innocence and child-like wonder.
What technique is used here: ‘And I, whose childhood is a forgotten boredom, feel like a child’ (Coming)?
simile
How is the structure of Coming different to most other Larkin poems, and why?
In contrast to most other Larkin poems, which are structured around tight, regular stanzas, Coming is very different as it is a single stanza with enjambment across most lines. This is perhaps intended to represent the overflowing passion and excitement of the main character, as he observes the coming of new life.
Which type of shrub is referred to in Coming, and why?
Laurel (the thrush is described as being ‘laurel-surrounded’). Laurel wreaths are often give out at sporting events, so this is perhaps intended to reiterate that spring is a time of celebration and joy.
‘There is an __________ coming in’ (Going)
evening
In Going, what does the coming evening represent?
The disappearing light might be seen as a metaphor for the inevitability of death.
‘That lights no ____________.’ (Going)
lamps
In Going, why does the speaker say that the coming evening ‘lights no lamps’?
To suggest that death offers no hope or possibility of an afterlife - it is final and absolute.
‘___________ it seems at a distance’ (Going)
Silken
In Going, why does death seem ‘silken at a distance’?
To suggest that when viewed from afar - when a person is younger - death seems almost like an easy and comforting resolution to life.
It brings no ___________.’ (Going)
comfort
How is there a shift in the penultimate stanza of Going?
The tone becomes interrogative (questioning) with three questions in succession.
Why is there a shift to a more questioning tone in the penultimate stanza of Going?
To show how, above all, death brings confusion and uncertainty.
Where has the __________ gone, that locked // Earth to the sky? (Going)
tree
In Going, why does the speaker question: Where has the tree gone, that locked // Earth to the sky?
The tree is a metaphor for stability that connects life on ‘earth’ with the hope of something after (‘sky’). As the speaker confronts death, he questions whether such a link really exists.
What is the name for a three-line stanza, like those used in Going?
tercets
In Going, why is the tercet structure broken down at the end of the poem, as Larkin uses a single-line final stanza?
The sudden break down in structure perhaps represents the speaker’s increasing confusion and uncertainty. The single line might be seen as symbolising the notion that ultimately we all have to face death alone.
The focus on death in Going might have been shaped by the the beginning of which war in the 1950s, which brought with it the threat of nuclear apocalypse?
The Cold War
In what year did Britain test nuclear weapons?
1952
The focus on death in Going may have been influenced by the fact that the poems were written soon after the end of which war?
WWII
Sometimes you hear, _________ - ____________, // As epitaph’ (Poetry of Departures)
fifth-hand
In Poetry of Departures, why is it significant that the story of a man leaving society is heard ‘fifth-hand’?
This suggests the story was perhaps unreliable or untrue, with the speaker therefore questioning whether escaping society is actually realistic.
What does the word ‘epitaph’ mean and in which poem does it feature?
epitaph = words spoken at a funeral. This is featured in Poetry of Departures.
In Poetry of Departures, why does the speaker describe that the story of a man leaving society is told like an ‘epitaph’?
An epitaph is a speech delivered at a funeral. The speaker is perhaps mocking the way that stories of societal rebellion are told in such a dramatic manner.
‘audacious, purifying, _____________ move’ (Poetry of Departures)
elemental
What technique is used here: ‘audacious, purifying, elemental move’ (Poetry of Departures)
tricolon
Why does the speaker describe the story of a man escaping mainstream society as an ‘audacious, purifying, elemental move’?
The triplet of hyperbolic adjectives is intended to mock the idea that escaping mainstream society is actually that significant or meaningful.
‘specially-chosen __________’ (Poetry of Departures)
junk
What technique is used here? ‘specially-chosen junk’ (Poetry of Departures)
oxymoron
Why does the main character of Poetry of Departures describe his possessions as being ‘specially chosen junk’?
The oxymoron conveys how the speaker feels material possessions, something we take great time and care to amass, are actually worthless.
‘the ________ books, the __________ bed’ (Poetry of Departures)
good
What is the intended effect of the list in Poetry of Departures: ‘Books; china; a life’?
The speaker is perhaps suggesting that life itself (like books and china) can become a commodity.
‘Reprehensibly ____________’ (Poetry of Departures)
perfect
What technique is used here: ‘Reprehensibly perfect’ (Poetry of Departures)
oxymoron
Why does Poetry of Departures end with the oxymoron ‘reprehensibly perfect’?
The speaker suggests that the idea of a ‘perfect’ life is ‘reprehensible’ and something to be entirely rejected.
What is the significance of the title ‘Poetry of Departures’?
Larkin is mocking the idea that there is anything poetic or romantic about the idea of ‘departing’ society.
‘___________ it seems at a distance’ (Going)
Silken
‘From the ___________ shade they shelter in’
cold
What technique is used here: ‘The cold shade they shelter in’? (At Grass)
pathetic fallacy
In At Grass, why does Larkin refer to ‘the cold shade [the horses] shelter in’?
To convey how, at the beginning of the poem, the horses seem neglected and vulnerable.
‘stands __________ again’ (At Grass)
anonymous
In the first stanza of At Grass, why are the horses described as being ‘anonymous’?
To suggest that they lack a proper or meaningful identity.
‘Two dozen distances sufficed to __________ them’ (At Grass)
fable
What technique is used here - ‘Silks at the start: against the sky/Numbers and parasols’? (At Grass)
sibilance
Why does Larkin use sibilance in the lines - ‘Silks at the start: against the sky/Numbers and parasols’? (At Grass)
To capture the noise and energy of the race meeting, and therefore the excitement and intensity of the horses’ former identity.
‘Do _________ plague their ears like flies?’ (At Grass)
memories
In At Grass, what does the speaker question when he says - ‘Do memories plague their ears like flies’?
He questions whether the horses are saddened by the memories of their former exciting lives.
‘they have slipped their ____________’ (At Grass)
names
‘the ___________ meadows’
unmolesting
In the penultimate stanza of At Grass, why are the horses described as living in ‘umolesting meadows’?
It shows that they are now left alone and have found a form of peace through being at one with the natural world.
In the final stanza of At Grass, why are the horses described as having ‘slipped their names’?
They have gained a kind of freedom through ‘anonymity’ - they are no longer controlled or defined by the human world.
Does At Grass use a regular rhyme scheme?
Yes. There in an ABC rhyme scheme.
What is the correct term for a six-line stanza, like those used in At Grass?
sestets
The Poem Wants explores the conflict between the wants and desires of the _____________ and those of ___________.
speaker/society.
‘the sky grows __________ with invitation cards’ (Wants)
dark
Why does the speaker in Wants describe that ‘the sky grows dark with invitation cards’?
To convey how the expectation to socialise and be part of a community fills him with a sense of dread and anxiety.
‘the ___________ directions of sex’ (Wants)
printed
Why does the narrator in Wants refer to sex having ‘printed directions’?
To suggest that sex, something that should be meaningful and personal, is actually just another dull societal expectation.
‘Beyond all this, the wish to be __________ ‘ (Wants)
alone
In Wants, why does Larkin repeat the speaker’s desires at the end of each stanza, as well as stating them at the beginning?
To show that these ‘wants’ - ‘to be alone’ or embrace ‘oblivion’ - are constant and inescapable.
What societal expectation does the main character mock in the line ‘the family photographed under the flag-staff’?
The expectation that we all take part in society through having a family and being a proud part of our nation.
‘the __________ aversion of the eyes away from death’ (Wants)
costly
In Wants why does ‘beyond all this…’ change to ‘beneath all this’?
To convey how societal expectations inevitably come to weigh us down.
In Wants, why does the speaker say that averting our eyes from death is ‘costly’?
Because it means that we don’t fully engage with life; by not accepting our own mortality, we don’t truly live.
What is the correct term for five-line stanzas, such as those used in Wants?
quintains (you can also call these quintets)
‘The trumpet’s ___________ loud and authoritative’ (Reasons for Attendance)
voice
What technique is used here: ‘the trumpet’s voice loud and authoritative’ (Reasons for Attendance)
personification
‘___________ on the beat of happiness’ (Reasons for Attendance)
Solemnly
‘Draws me a moment to the ____________ glass’ (Reasons for Attendance)
lighted
What technique is used here: ‘face to flushed face’ (Reasons for Attendance)
alliteration
In Reasons for Attendance, why are the dancers described as moving ‘solemnly on the beat of happiness’?
The speaker suggests there is a strange formality to the movement of the dancers. ‘On the beat of happiness’ implies their joy is regulated and tightly controlled.
(Art, if you like) whose __________ sound // Insists I too am ____________. (Reasons for Attendance)
individual
‘It speaks; I __________’ (Reasons for Attedance)
hear
‘I can live a day week poetry but not a day without ___________’
jazz
For which newspaper did Larkin write jazz reviews?
The Daily Telegraph
‘they _________ to and fro’ (Reasons for Attendance)
maul
Why does the main character of Reasons for Attendance describe how the dancers ‘maul’ each other?
He is suggesting that their desires are primitive and undignified.
‘If no one has misjudged himself. Or __________’ (Reasons for Attendance)
lied
What is the significance of the final line of Reasons for Attendance: ‘If no one has misjudged himself. Or lied’?
The main character wonders whether actually he has just deceived himself that he can find happiness in solitariness, and is therefore no better than the dancers and their illusory desires.
Does Reasons for Attendance use a regular rhyme scheme?
Yes - ABABB. However, most of this is in half-rhymes, with the exception of the poem’s final rhyming couplet.
What is the main technique used in Toads
Extended Metaphor
‘Why should I let the toad work __________ on my life’
squat
What technique is used here - ‘six days of the week it soils/with its sickening poison’ (Toads)
sibilance
Although the speaker in Toads resents work, how does he feel about those that don’t - ‘lecturers, lispers/losers, lob-lolly-men, louts’?
He mocks them via Larkin’s use of alliterative listing
Towards the end of Toads, the speaker realises that ‘something sufficiently ‘________ - _________ squats in me’
toad - like
The speaker in Toads ultimately decides that work is a necessary part of human existence - how could this link to Larkin’s own life?
Despite being a poet he continued to work as a librarian, even twice rejecting the prestigious position of poet laureate.
What technique is used here - ‘their unspeakable wives are skinny as whippets’? (Toads)
simile
In Toads, why does Larkin refer to ‘unspeakable wives are skinny as whippets’?
He is dehumanising and mocking those that don’t work; although Larkin’s narrator resents the restrictions of work, he also looks down on those that don’t.
How does Larkin use an intertextual reference in Toads?
In the line ‘that’s the stuff/That dreams are made on’ he refers to the Shakespeare play The Tempest.
Why does Larkin employ an intertextual reference to The Tempest is his poem Toads - ‘that’s the stuff/That dreams are made on’
These philosophical lines are spoken by the magician Prospero, who dreams of a utopian world. Larkin’s speaker is therefore perhaps mocking the notion of a perfect society.
What does the word ‘blarney’ mean that is used in the poem Toads?
It means to speak in a flattering or persuasive way - the speaker mocks an existence of such insincerity.
‘The ________ and the __________ and the _________’ (Toads)
fame/girl/money
Why does Larkin employ listing in the line ‘the fame and the girl and the money’?
He is perhaps intending to mock such generic and superficial ambitions.
What major event ended in 1945 - ten years prior to The Less Deceived being published?
WWII
After WWII, food rationing was still in place until…?
1954
Which political party came into power in 1945, promising to create a fairer, more equal Britain?
Labour
What did the Labour government create in 1948 that was seen, by some, as a positive symbol of social progress?
the NHS
In what year was the NHS created?
1948
Although Larkin is not especially a political poet, we might describe his views as being c_____________ ?
conservative
Which war, just beginning in the 1950s, brought the fear of nuclear apocalypse?
The Cold War
‘The ____________ prairies have electric fences’ (Wires)
widest
What technique is used in the line: ‘The WIDEST fences’ (Wires)?
superlative adjective
In the poem Wires, what do the ‘old cattle and ‘young steers’ represent?
The ‘old cattle’ are the older generation, who understand and accept societal restrictions. The ‘young steers’ are the younger generation, who are optimistic and naive to the limitations they face.
‘Young steers are always scenting ___________ / ___________ ‘ (Wires)
purer water
In Wires, which verb (beginning with ‘b’) describes the clumsy movement of the ignorant ‘young steers’?
blunder
In the poem Wires, why is the word ‘wires’ repeated in the fourth and fifth lines of the poem?
To represent the idea of continual confinement. Although the ‘young steers’ are unaware, restriction if ever-present.
What technique is used in the line: ‘muscle-shredding violence’ (Wires)
sibilance
Why does Larkin employ sibilance in the line, ‘muscle-shredding violence’? (Wires)
To represent the brutal and unforgiving pain caused by the electric fences (and the restrictions they represent)
Does Wires use a regular rhyme scheme?
Yes. ABCD DCBA (this can also be referred to as an ‘envelope’ rhyme scheme)
Why does the poem Wires use a ABCD DCBA (or ‘envelope’) rhyme scheme?
The way that the lines of the second stanza lock into those of the first is perhaps intended to represent the unavoidable restrictions we all have to face.
Did Larkin ever marry?
No. Although he was briefly engaged to Ruth Bowman when he was younger.
What did Larkin say of marriage (referring to his parents’ marriage) ‘the only married state I know is ___________ / ___________’?
bloody hell
The poem Maiden Name is thought to be partly inspired by…?
Winifred Arnott
Maiden Name is thought to be partly inspired by Winifred Arnott. Where did Larkin meet her?
Larkin met Winifred Arnott whilst working as a librarian at The University of Belfast.
‘Marrying left your maiden name ___________.’ (Maiden Name)
disused
Which part of the poem Maiden Name might we consider to be a specific reference to Winifred Arnott?
‘its five light sounds’ (the five syllables of her name)
What technique is used in the phrase ‘thankfully confused’? (Maiden Name)
oxymoron
Why does Larkin use an oxymoron in the phrase ‘thankfully confused’? (Maiden Name)
To juxtapose the cliched positive sentiments connected with marriage - being ‘thankful’ - with the starker reality: that you lose your identity and become ‘confused’ with someone else.
‘since you were so thankfully confused by ____________ ‘ (Maiden Name)
law
In Maiden Name, why does Larkin describe the women as being ‘thankfully confused BY LAW’?
To suggest that the marriage is nothing more than a legal contract. As we see elsewhere in the poem, Larkin disconnects marriage from ideas of romance or intimacy.
In Maiden Name, how is the newly married women described - ‘scentless, weightless, ________________?
strengthless
Why is the ‘less’ suffix repeated in the poem Maiden Name: ‘scentless, weightless, strengthless’?
To show the extent of what she has lost through marriage. ‘Strengthless’ in particular implies that by giving herself to another she has been weakened.
‘old lists, old programmes, a __________ / _____________ or two’ (Maiden Name)
school prize
Why does the speaker in Maiden Name link the female character’s old self to ‘a school prize or two’?
To suggest that her old self was notable and worth of celebration - which is in contrast to her less remarkable, married self.
How might the word ‘unfingermarked’ be considered a pun? (Maiden Name)
- It refers to a time when he finger was literally not ‘marked’ by a ring. 2. It refers to a time when she was untainted, pure and not ‘marked’ by someone else.
‘with your _________ / ___________ / ____________ ‘ (Maiden Name)
depreciating luggage laden
What technique is used in the line ‘depreciating luggage laden’?
Metaphor. This is used to describe her new life or perhaps new new partner - something that is losing value and quickly becoming a burden.
Does Maiden Name use a regular rhyme scheme?
Yes. ABBACCA.
Why does Larkin use a regular rhyme scheme in Maiden Name?
The regularity of the rhyme, alongside the regular stanza and line length, perhaps represent the monotony and routine nature of marriage.
