Wedding Wind

Question 1

In Wedding Wind, what technique is used in the title and throughout the poem where Larkin refers to the ‘wind’?

Answer 1

pathetic fallacy

Question 2

In Wedding Wind, what might the extended metaphor of the ‘wind’ represent?

Answer 2

significant, almost elemental change.

Question 3

‘a stable door was _________, again and again’ (Wedding Wind)

Answer 3

banging

Question 4

What terminology might be used to describe the verb ‘banging’ in the line below: ‘a stable door was banging again and again’ (Wedding Wind)?

Answer 4

onomatopoeia

Question 5

‘leaving me stupid in ___________’ (Wedding Wind)

Answer 5

candlelight

Question 6

In Wedding Wind, what is significant about the female character being left feeling ‘stupid in candlelight’?

Answer 6

This image juxtaposes the conventional ideas of ‘candlelight’ - romance and intimacy. Instead, in the first stanza at least, she feels foolish and alone.

Question 7

‘Seeing my face in the _________ candlestick yet seeing nothing’ (Wedding Wind)

Answer 7

twisted

Question 8

In Wedding Wind, why does Larkin describe the newly married woman ‘seeing her face in the twisted candlestick yet seeing nothing’

Answer 8

The adjective ‘twisted’ perhaps suggests that, as a result of marriage her identity has become warped or corrupted in some way.

Question 9

How is there a shift at the beginning of the second stanza of Wedding Wind?

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

‘this ____________ morning shares my bed?’ (Wedding Wind)

Answer 10

perpetual

Question 11

Why does the newly married woman in Wedding Wind describe that the ‘perpetual morning shares my bed’

Answer 11

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)

Question 12

.Can even ____________ dry up these new delighted lakes’ (Wedding Wind)

Answer 12

death

Question 13

Why might the newly married woman in Wedding Wind question whether ‘even death [will] dry up these new delighted lakes’

Answer 13

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.

Question 14

‘Our kneeling as ___________ by all-generous waters’ (Wedding Wind)

Answer 14

cattle

Question 15

What technique is used by Larkin in the final image of Wedding Wind - ‘our kneeling as cattle’?

Answer 15

similie

Question 16

In Wedding Wind, why does Larkin have the female character describe herself and her husband to be ‘kneeling as cattle by all-generous waters’?

Answer 16

‘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.