Philip Larkin Poetry
Summary, key themes, structure, context
Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album (1953)
The narrator is perusing their partner’s old photo albums and, in doing so, is reminded that the latter
has a wealth of past memories from their life prior to the relationship. This makes the narrator feel
uneasy, as they seek to control as much of their partner as they can.
Memory
Youth
Control
Judgement
Characteristic of poetry of the Movement in its return to traditional forms underlying a
colloquial or demotic voice.
9 stanzas of quintains (5 lines) each of which has a regular rhyme scheme of ABBAB.
Free-flowing monologue underpinned by fairly regular iambic pentameter, the variations in the
metric feet and the frequent use of enjambment and caesura creating a conversational tone.
A play on classic Odes, having a tripartite (three parts) structure which initially celebrates the
subject, then counters the initial reaction before resolving the debate in revelation.
Context = In September 1950, Larkin moved to Belfast for a librarian job, where he met young
Winifred Arnott. Their relationship involved bike rides, reading and visits to friends but was never
sexual. Arnott herself described it as “of different sort” and that she “cheered him up” and “was very
fond of him”. Larkin enjoyed photography as a hobby and bought his first camera in 1947 in “an act
of madness” due to its cost. He continued to take photographs of family and friends throughout his
life and there are a number of albums into which he pasted his compositions.
Wedding-Wind (1946)
The narrator discusses how her wedding day and night were both characterised by high winds and
the frequent absences of her husband, leaving her attempting to convince herself that she is happy.
Once married, her husband is once again busy with manual duties, leaving her to a life of domesticity
amidst weather which perhaps mirrors her true feelings about her new world.
Marriage
Relationships
Loss
Disappointment
Expectation
Regret
Dramatic monologue written in two linked stanzas, the first recalling her wedding-night, the
second her thoughts on her future.
Can also be described as an aubade, a song of the morning, often between two parting lovers. In
1977, Larkin wrote a poem called ‘Aubade’.
After the opening two lines, the rhythm settles into fairly regular iambic pentameter and the
subsequent lines rhyme ABACDEDE. This tight structure gives the first stanza a tone of
contentment, matching the woman's mood as she recalls her wedding night. The second stanza
is unrhymed, as the mood of contentment gives way to a series of rhetorical questions, which
are open-ended.
, Context = Larkin left Wellington for Leicester in 1947 in order to take up a librarian post, leaving
Ruth Bowman behind. He was unsure whether the relationship would survive the separation and
lead to marriage. Larkin had doubts surrounding the desirability of marriage, particularly due to his
parents’ marriage, which he described as “bloody hell”, and unhappy memories of his childhood.
Places, Loved Ones (1954)
The narrator admits that they have never found someone that they are willing to sacrifice their
freedom for and conveys how they see relationships as diluting rather than strengthening.
Commitment
Love
Society
Relationships
Addressed to an unseen person.
3 stanzas of octets in iambic trimeter, the last line of each stanza being a dimeter with only two,
rather than three, stressed beats, as if to round it off.
Regular rhyme scheme ABABEDED using full and half-rhymes. The half-rhymes or pararhymes
help to soften the rhyme scheme and, together with the enjambment, create a conversational
tone, in spite of this tight structure.
Context = May have been prompted by the possibility of him moving from Belfast to Hull. Between
1943-55, he moved locations five times, living in a number of boarding houses and rented
apartments in Oxford, Wellington, Leicester, Belfast and Hull. He had broken off his relationship with
Ruth Bowman, Winifred Arnott had married and moved to England and his affair with Patsy Strang
had ended when she left Belfast, although he was still maintaining a distant relationship with Monica
Jones, who was still in England.
Coming (1950)
The narrator is filled with childlike optimism and happiness, almost without cause, due to the
oncoming warmth and life of spring.
Childhood
Nature
Change
Symbolism
Single stanza is written in 19 lines of, predominantly, dimeters, the two-beats mimicking his steps as
he walks down the street and each line presenting a snapshot of the scene as it unfolds.
Context = In 1950, Larkin wrote many poems. He was living at home with his mother following the
death of his father the previous year, his engagement to Ruth Bowman had ended and he had nearly
abandoned thoughts of becoming a novelist. He vented his feelings about his parents, their marriage
and his childhood in an unfinished and unpublished autobiography written in 1950s, stating that “the
marriage left me with two convictions: that human beings should not live together, and that children
should be taken from their parents at an early age.” He grew up in a residential area near Coventry
city centre. The thrush is typically seen as a symbol of hope and promise amidst dark times and was
immortalised by Thomas Hardy (whom Larkin greatly admired) in his poem ‘The Darkling Thrush’.
Reasons for Attendance (1953)
The narrator observes dancers from afar, commenting how they seem to have obtained freedom
that he can never quite grasp. Additionally, he likens their movement to sex and notes how he feels
