The repetition of ‘I Remember, I
Remember’ in the title conveys a
reflective tone and cyclical nature of
returning to your hometown
I remember, I remember
This poem contains the speaker’s thoughts about his childhood home-town, Coventry. The poem
lists, rather satirically, things that didn’t happen in his childhood, to show how it didn’t live up to the
often romanticized images of youth. This is a poem about memory and the passage of time, and
instead of a nostalgic and sentimental look back on youth, Larkin’s poem is more realistic and
illuminates the disappointment of life.
Different themes:
Passage of time.
Youth.
Lost opportunity.
Trauma?
Memory
Key poems to link to and why:
At grass- detachment from the past and present selves. Also memory.
Whatever happened- memory.
Contextual links:
Larkin himself was raised in Coventry. It was heavily bombed in WW2, which would also
explain why it became unrecognizable.
Larkin’s title echoes a poem by Victorian poet Thomas Hood, and through ‘I remember I
remember’ he inverts the messages of Hood’s poem, which idealized childhood innocence,
as Larkin of course does not want to ‘deceive’ his readers. Originally however, he was going
to call it ‘revenant’
Larkin as a ‘sad eyed realist’.
Alan Bennet comments that Larkin was famous for his fear of death, but also his fear of life.
There is a sense that he feels life is elsewhere, and he isn’t experiencing how it is meant to
be. Hence his poetry depicts everyday life in a more realistic sense, perhaps to show others
that not everything has to be exciting etc.
Key aspects of form and structure:
Element of connection but also disconnection through the rhyme scheme- could this be
reflective of a distortion of memory?
The final standalone stanza makes a conclusive statement that our past defines us but
everything that encompasses it can happen anywhere. The isolation of this line mirrors its
bleak message.
The embedded italicised texts gives another voice to the poem which can be from a memory
of the past from Larkin’s upbringing which has influenced him.
Key methods and arguments of poem:
A colloquial tone, and lack of clarity fabricates the memories of childhood:
‘wasn’t even clear’
‘family hols?’- question mark reenforces lack of clarity
Remember’ in the title conveys a
reflective tone and cyclical nature of
returning to your hometown
I remember, I remember
This poem contains the speaker’s thoughts about his childhood home-town, Coventry. The poem
lists, rather satirically, things that didn’t happen in his childhood, to show how it didn’t live up to the
often romanticized images of youth. This is a poem about memory and the passage of time, and
instead of a nostalgic and sentimental look back on youth, Larkin’s poem is more realistic and
illuminates the disappointment of life.
Different themes:
Passage of time.
Youth.
Lost opportunity.
Trauma?
Memory
Key poems to link to and why:
At grass- detachment from the past and present selves. Also memory.
Whatever happened- memory.
Contextual links:
Larkin himself was raised in Coventry. It was heavily bombed in WW2, which would also
explain why it became unrecognizable.
Larkin’s title echoes a poem by Victorian poet Thomas Hood, and through ‘I remember I
remember’ he inverts the messages of Hood’s poem, which idealized childhood innocence,
as Larkin of course does not want to ‘deceive’ his readers. Originally however, he was going
to call it ‘revenant’
Larkin as a ‘sad eyed realist’.
Alan Bennet comments that Larkin was famous for his fear of death, but also his fear of life.
There is a sense that he feels life is elsewhere, and he isn’t experiencing how it is meant to
be. Hence his poetry depicts everyday life in a more realistic sense, perhaps to show others
that not everything has to be exciting etc.
Key aspects of form and structure:
Element of connection but also disconnection through the rhyme scheme- could this be
reflective of a distortion of memory?
The final standalone stanza makes a conclusive statement that our past defines us but
everything that encompasses it can happen anywhere. The isolation of this line mirrors its
bleak message.
The embedded italicised texts gives another voice to the poem which can be from a memory
of the past from Larkin’s upbringing which has influenced him.
Key methods and arguments of poem:
A colloquial tone, and lack of clarity fabricates the memories of childhood:
‘wasn’t even clear’
‘family hols?’- question mark reenforces lack of clarity
