This is a 2 page document that acts as a thorough essay plan and revision resource, produced by a student who achieved all A* at A level. It is split into an analysis of the poem itself, context, form, structure, language and ideas. (Hence touching upon all A0s assessed in the A level poetry exam.)
The title of the poem ‘Places, Loved Ones’
creates a connection between people and
places, and as the poem progresses the
speaker explains how he has never found
this permanent person he can call home.
Places, Loved Ones
The poem centres on the construct of marriages and how it entraps individuals by tying them down
to one person. However, though the speaker does not wish for marriage, he feels that under the
pressure of society one is still made to feel unhappy if they have not found ‘that special one.’ By the
end of the poem, speaker suggests that we should stop dwelling on the possibility that there might
be someone or someplace better for you.
Different themes:
Marriage and relationships.
Disappointment
Societal expectation.
Place and belonging.
Key poems to link to and why:
Maiden name- loss of identity through marriage.
Born yesterday- societal expectation.
I remember I remember- place and a feeling of not belonging.
Contextual links:
Larkin himself was afraid of marriage. He had multiple partners perhaps because he felt he
could not settle and marry for one woman, linking to the ideas of this poem.
Following the war, English society was drifting away from traditions as it had to adapt itself
to the changing world, and the modernisation of the state – links to the disapproving view
on marriage held by the speaker.
1950s- divorce looked down upon. In this poem, speaker so afraid to marry as he feels there
is no way out if you become unhappy.
Key aspects of form and structure:
Rhyme: ABABCDCD – strict rhyme scheme paralleling an established relationship and
connection, and also its confinement. .
The enjambment ‘you’re /Bound,’ forces the verb ‘bound’ to be trapped as a single word,
mirroring that once you get married, you become tied down to one individual
Half rhyme when speaking of love in stanza two- reflective of insincerity.
Key methods and arguments of poem:
The poem begins with ‘no’, immediately drawing attention to the speaker’s pessimistic outlook on
life and the negative tone of the poem.
There is the sense that the speaker, or Larkin, feels isolated from the wider world because of the
way he observes relationships and marriage.
‘This is my proper ground, Here I shall stay;’ – The italics used creates separation, as these
are not the speakers own words- sense that he is quoting someone else, or more broadly the
voice of society which expects one to find stability.
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