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    An Analysis of The Themes of Death

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    Jauhar Jauharabad
    Philip Larkin was a noted 20th century British poet known for his bleak outlook on human life and themes of death, decline, and disappointment in his poetry. His work was heavily influenced by the post-World War II era he lived in, which saw questions raised about religion and values. Larkin took an agnostic approach, focusing on capturing the realities of human predicament, isolation, and life's precarious conditions without romanticizing them. His poetry reflected the social, cultural, and religious changes of his time as well as his view that death is inevitable for all people regardless of class or status.

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    An Analysis of The Themes of Death

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    Jauhar Jauharabad
    221 views7 pages
    Philip Larkin was a noted 20th century British poet known for his bleak outlook on human life and themes of death, decline, and disappointment in his poetry. His work was heavily influenced by the post-World War II era he lived in, which saw questions raised about religion and values. Larkin took an agnostic approach, focusing on capturing the realities of human predicament, isolation, and life's precarious conditions without romanticizing them. His poetry reflected the social, cultural, and religious changes of his time as well as his view that death is inevitable for all people regardless of class or status.

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    Philip Larkin was a noted 20th century British poet known for his bleak outlook on human life and themes of death, decline, and disappointment in his poetry. His work was heavily influenced by the post-World War II era he lived in, which saw questions raised about religion and values. Larkin took an agnostic approach, focusing on capturing the realities of human predicament, isolation, and life's precarious conditions without romanticizing them. His poetry reflected the social, cultural, and religious changes of his time as well as his view that death is inevitable for all people regardless of class or status.

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    221 views7 pages

    An Analysis of The Themes of Death

    Uploaded by

    Jauhar Jauharabad
    Philip Larkin was a noted 20th century British poet known for his bleak outlook on human life and themes of death, decline, and disappointment in his poetry. His work was heavily influenced by the post-World War II era he lived in, which saw questions raised about religion and values. Larkin took an agnostic approach, focusing on capturing the realities of human predicament, isolation, and life's precarious conditions without romanticizing them. His poetry reflected the social, cultural, and religious changes of his time as well as his view that death is inevitable for all people regardless of class or status.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    The key takeaways are that Philip Larkin's poetry explores themes of death, decline, disappointment, disillusionment with religion and society in post-war England.

    The main themes explored in Philip Larkin's poetry are death, decline, disappointment, disillusionment with religion and society in post-war England.

    Larkin portrays religion and society as being in a state of decline and dilapidation in the post-war period through poems like 'Church Going'. He has a cynical, agnostic view of religion.

    An Analysis of the Themes of Death, Decline and

    Disappointment
    in Philip Larkins Poetry
    Introduction
    Philip Larkin (1922-1985), a noted British poet, novelist and critic was born in
    Coventry,
    England, and educated at the University of Oxford. He treats the modern English
    setting in a
    withdrawn and non-sentimental manner. As a matter of fact, the very nonsentimental approach
    has been the hallmark of his poetry. Throughout his poetic career, his bleak
    outlook on human
    life has been an essence of his poetic stance. Human life and its predicament and
    the
    disappointment and disillusionment have been the recurring motifs of his poetry.
    Moreover,
    Larkins agnostic approach has played a pivotal role in shaping his personality
    and poetry
    simultaneously.
    Larkins Agnostic Approach
    The age of Larkin was an age of disaster and chaos on a social and moral level all
    over
    the world. The flames of Second World War were still burning in the late nineteenfifties and
    there was a decline in the values cherished by societies. People had seen much
    destruction in the
    wake of first and second world wars and they had started raising questions about
    the existence of
    God. That was a scenario where Philip Larkin was born and brought up. No
    wonder he gives the
    runaround to God, religion and religious creeds. In spite of this non-sentimental
    and agnostic
    approach, he has earned a reputation of a great poet of his time as he deals with
    the stark and
    harsh realities of his time with great realism. In fact, it is his non-romantic
    approach towards the
    precarious conditions of life that has given his poetry a long lasting popularity. As
    a poet, he has
    a great command over his emotions that doesnt let him romanticize human life
    in any capacity
    and enables him to capture the chaos and decline of human life on social and
    religious levels.
    The Religious, Social and Political Context of Larkins Poetry
    Larkin was not a prolific writer and he published just four major collections of his
    poetry,

    which he did so with long intervals. But even with this limited writing legacy, he
    has been
    successful in leaving an indelible mark on his poetic era. His first collection The
    North Ship
    was published in 1945; The Less Deceived in 1955; The Whitsun Weddings in
    1964 and The
    High Windows in 1974. From the very first to the last collection, a sense of
    alienation,
    detachment and disappointment prevails very strongly.
    Church Going
    Larkin has composed his poetry in the context of his temperament and of his
    personal
    views on life, religion, and religious dogmas. He shares his thoughts about God,
    religion and the
    existing scenario of religious beliefs of different classes of society in one of his
    poems, Church
    Going in a realistic manner. His poem Church Going chronicles the account of
    that time, when
    people had become suspicious of the existence of God and religion. Larkins
    sarcasm is seen
    from the very first line of the poem,
    On a surface level, this poem makes fun of the church going tradition, but on a
    deeper
    level, Larkin points out the dilapidation of a church, as peoples religious
    credibility also was a
    victim of dilapidation. There was a time of general decline in the attendance of
    churches as
    churches were no longer able to attract all people towards religion.
    Impact of Social and Political Atmosphere
    Deep and profound is the influence of the social and political atmosphere of his
    time on
    Larkins poetry. Larkins realistic approach towards his time makes him write what
    he has
    written. We can see the true portrait of the post-war England in Larkins collection
    of poetry, or
    it can be said that his poetry is greatly reinforced by the cataclysmic scenario of
    post-war
    England.
    Grass
    Larkins poem At Grass is one of his great poems, where Larkin describes the
    situation
    symbolically and connects his main theme with the current awkward situation of
    the post-war
    England. The retirement of some horses from the horse-race and their idle life
    after the
    retirement symbolized Britains loss of power and glory. Critics have rated this
    poem as one the

    most popular poems of post-war Britain. This poem expresses much more in a
    sympathetic way
    to convey the elegiac mood of that time, when Britain was facing the aftermath
    of the Second
    World War.At Grass, is according to an eminent critic, an essentially English
    poem. Its
    Englishness is to be found not merely in its memories of cups and stakes and
    handicaps, but
    also in the modified mood of the pastoral convention. (Chapter 2, Page 7)
    This poem is enriched with eighteenth century pastoral convention and the
    elegiac tone
    simultaneously as the poem asks the wistful question.
    Do memories plague their ears like flies?
    Differences of Class and Culture in Larkins Poems
    Larkins poetry is filled with themes and images portraying the changed social
    climate of
    his era. Besides giving plenty of space to his pessimistic and agnostic approach,
    he delineates a
    crystal clear picture of his society where the differences of class and culture
    emerge from the
    advancement of the industrial revolution.
    The volume The Whitsun Weddings (1964) reflects the circumstances, in the late
    nineteen-fifties, when class and culture conflicts were coming into vogue. In this
    perspective,
    Larkin couldnt keep himself detached from the changing atmosphere. His poem
    Here points
    out the change in the life style of people, who were gradually getting attracted
    towards the
    material comforts of life, to the exclusion of the finer things of life. We come
    across the
    following lines in Here.
    Cheap suits, red kitchen-ware, sharp shoes, iced lollies, electric mixers, toasters,
    washers, driers
    Mr. Bleany
    The same scenario runs through another one of his famous poems, Mr. Bleany,
    where
    he presents the sketch of a person, named Bleany, who is leading a sub-standard
    life in his
    apartment. Mr. Bleany is a lonely person, isolated from others; there is nothing
    neither charming
    nor attractive in his life and in his apartment. Apparently, this poem tells the
    story of Mr. Bleany,
    a very boring person. But Larkin describes very realistically the truth of our social
    life, wherein a
    persons character is judged by his style of living. There are no digressions or
    superfluities in the

    poem, but just a character-portrait with a spontaneous flow of thought, very


    vividly rendered.
    Pessimism in Afternoons
    Another poem Afternoons from this volume has been written with the same
    approach,
    which records the changing social and cultural climate of the late 1950s and
    early 1960s in an
    extraordinary way. The climate is depicted by the references to the new recreation ground, to
    husbands in skilled trades, to an estate full of washing, to the albums lettered
    Our Wedding
    lying near the television.
    These phrases undoubtedly indicate the changes, which had begun to take place
    in the
    social life of England at the time this poem was written. The pessimism of this
    poem is obvious
    as the young couple in this poem find that something is pushing them to the side
    of their own
    lives.
    One thing is very certain that Larkins poetry is encompassed with the same kind
    of
    dissatisfaction, which goes parallel even in his poems where he writes about the
    social and
    cultural changes. This dissatisfaction is part and parcel of Larkins poetic ability
    so much so that
    he does only portray the inability and incapacity of human life that seem
    inevitable to human
    existence.
    The Inevitability of Death for All Classes of Society
    Larkins poetry is greatly overwhelmed by one single thought and that is death,
    which
    eventually leads the human mind to decline and deprivation. In this case, critics
    are unanimous in
    calling him, the saddest heart of the post-war super market. His pessimistic
    approach is deeply
    rooted in the isolation, alienation, and predicament of human life that he saw
    around him. He
    does not describe directly the massacre and destruction of the Second World War,
    which played
    An Analysis of the Themes of Death, Decline and Disappointment in Philip
    Larkins Poetry 375
    havoc with human beings, but he crafts his poems in such a way that the pain,
    suffering and
    helplessness of a man can be felt in the face of these destructive forces. Larkin
    has been at his
    best with this single theme of death, which he considers the ultimate destruction
    for all classes of

    society, regardless of age, race, sex, color, and religion.


    Nothing to be Said
    Larkins poem Nothing to be Said implies that life at all levels and for every
    single
    person is ultimately the same, because all life inevitably ends in death. From this
    point of view,
    the lives of cobble-close families in mill-towns are really not different from the
    lives of the
    nomads among stones or from those of small-saturated tribes. (Chapter 2,
    Page 13) The
    stubborn and straight fact of death seems to darken every aspect of human life
    and activities.
    Dockery and Son is written in the context of the same idea, where Larkin
    compares his
    bachelor life with his friends married life, who has to die even he is married and
    has a son.
    Hence, it doesnt matter whether a person is a bachelor or is married, since both
    are destined to
    die in the long run.
    Impossibility of Escaping from Disease: Ambulances
    In the Ambulances the impossibility of escaping from disease and death has
    been
    captured with great sensitivity. With his utterly non-sentimental approach, Larkin
    has a great
    capacity to touch on the sensitive issues of human life. He emphasizes the
    omnipresence of death
    in the gloomy line, All streets in time are visited.
    Another poem Aubade conveys the same thought and proves that nothing in the
    world
    is permanent except death; therefore, nothing can defeat and mitigate the horror
    or permanence
    of death. Larkins melancholic approach towards life is very well understood,
    when he talks
    about death that is inseparable to man. He is perfectly realistic in creating an
    atmosphere of
    pathos by rendering vivid pictures in his death-obsessed poems. It seems that
    Larkin is able to
    arrive at the comprehensive conclusion that all efforts of human beings to live life
    better and to
    make life better end in fiasco, especially with the inexorable approach of death.
    By applying his
    An Analysis of the Themes of Death, Decline and Disappointment in Philip
    Larkins Poetry 376
    pragmatic approach throughout his poetry, Larkin constructs a clear-cut
    paradigm of human life;
    where death does not distinguish between the haves and have nots.
    Larkins Attitude in his Love Poems

    Again we see that Larkins unromantic and non-sentimental attitude gives a


    unique
    quality to his love poems. He is realistic at heart and he wants to see things
    clearly and truthfully.
    Intentionally and deliberately, he does avoid deceptions and through his
    perceptions, he presents
    the facts as they actually exist. Even his love poems describe an utterly
    unromantic view of
    human life in the backdrop of the sexual act, which is generally believed to bring
    about
    fulfillment and sexual relief.
    Sexual Act A Deception: Places, Loved Ones, If, My Darling
    In Larkins poems, the sexual act is altogether a deception and a sense of
    dissatisfaction
    and hopelessness seems to penetrate everything with a feeling of emptiness. In
    the poem,
    Places, Loved Ones, for instance, the speaker admits with a mixture of
    disappointment and
    futility that he has never met that special person, who could claim everything he
    owns. (Chapter
    2, Page 10)
    Similarly, the speaker in the poem, If, My Darling, insists upon his own realistic
    judgment of lifes deficiencies and any idealization of womanhood is carefully
    avoided. Larkins
    so-called love poetry, devoid of any romantic passions and emotions by focusing
    on the
    peripheral issues of human life reveals tragic aspects and tragedies that have
    been inseparable to
    man, since time immemorial. This has been Larkins approach that altogether
    shuns superficial
    treatment of human suffering and presents pathetic, realistic pictures of human
    life.
    Focus on Free Sex
    An Analysis of the Themes of Death, Decline and Disappointment in Philip
    Larkins Poetry 377
    One notable thing is the selection of words by Larkin in his sexual poems that
    indicates
    his attitude towards free sex. He dares to show his thinking through the use of
    such apt words
    whenever he wants. For instance, in the poem Annus Mirabilis, he asserts,
    Sexual Intercourse began
    In nineteen sixty-three
    (Which was rather late for me)
    Between the end of the Chatterley ban
    And the Beatles first L.P
    Larkins choice of words in this poem is also the mirror of the society of England,
    where

    sexual freedom had started in 60s and had not remained a taboo any longer.
    Marriages
    In his poem Marriages his manner of dealing with the topic is somewhat cynical
    but
    realistic as he says that marriage in most of the cases is a matter of accepting an
    undesirable and
    unwanted partner. In this case, he attributes marriage to the loss of ones
    freedom and as a result
    a man gets nothing but boredom and feels like a failure. It can be said that
    Larkins love poetry
    threatens the independence of the individual.
    Larkins cynical and realistic point of view does not let him idealize relationship,
    marriage, sex, and sexual satisfaction; rather, he creates an atmosphere of
    disappointment and
    disillusionment.
    In Larkins opinion, sexual fulfillment and erotic passion are mere deception and
    nothing
    else. Sexual desire is also the subject of the poem Dry Point. Here the physical
    experience is a
    struggle that is presented accompanied by fear and panic, and the aftermath is
    one of
    disappointment and disillusionment. In a nutshell, an element of disenchantment
    escorts his love
    poetry all the way to the final destination and that destination is nothing but a
    mirage.

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