Ph

ilip

La

rkin

The poetry of Phi l ip Lark in is thoroughly modern. I t combines a homely, sophist icated language with deta i led and accurate descr ipt ions that are narrated for the most part by an ent i re ly personal vo ice. His poetry manages to capture the moment in an uncompromis ingly rea l is t ic fashion that can somet imes appear pessimist ic. Lark in’s verse can be sneer ing and contemptuous of society at large, yet , at the same t ime, he can be h i lar ious ly funny and se l f -deprecat ing. For a l l i ts b leak rea l ism, Lark in’s poetry is open and warm. He bemoans the certa inty of death, yet aff i rms the possib i l i ty of cont inu i ty and renewal g l impsed in nature. You should approach Lark in’s poetry wi th an open mind. I f read without pre judice, i t wi l l force you to reassess many of your most deeply he ld bel ie fs.

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“

The Whitsun Weddings

That Whitsun, I was late gett ing away: Not t i l l aboutOne-twenty on the sunl i t SaturdayDid my three-quarters-empty t ra in pul l out ,A l l windows down, a l l cushions hot, a l l sense 5Of being in a hurry gone. We ranBehind the backs of houses, crossed a streetOf b l inding windscreens, smelt the f ish-dock; thenceThe r iver ’s leve l dr i f t ing breadth began,Where sky and L incolnshi re and water meet. 10

Al l a f ternoon, through the ta l l heat that s lept For mi les in land,A s low and stopping curve southwards we kept.W ide farms went by, short-shadowed catt le, andCanals wi th f loat ings of industr ia l f roth; 15A hothouse f lashed uniquely: hedges dippedAnd rose: and now and then a smel l of grassDisplaced the reek of buttoned carr iage-c lothUnt i l the next town, new and nondescr ipt ,Approached with acres of d ismant led cars. 20

At f i rst , I d idn’t not ice what a noise The weddings madeEach stat ion that we stopped at : sun destroysThe interest of what’s happening in the shade,And down the long cool p lat forms whoops and sk i r ls 25I took for porters lark ing with the mai ls ,And went on reading. Once we started, though,We passed them, gr inn ing and pomaded, g i r lsIn parodies of fashion, heels and ve i ls ,A l l poised i r resolute ly, watching us go, 30

As i f out on the end of an event Waving goodbyeTo something that surv ived i t . Struck, I leantMore prompt ly out next t ime, more cur ious ly,

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And saw i t a l l again in d i fferent terms: 35The fathers wi th broad bel ts under the i r su i tsAnd seamy foreheads; mothers loud and fat ;An uncle shout ing smut; and then the perms,The ny lon g loves and jewel lery-subst i tutes,The lemons, mauves, and o l ive-ochres that 40

Marked off the g i r ls unreal ly f rom the rest . Yes, f rom cafésAnd banquet-hal ls up yards, and bunt ing-dressedCoach-party annexes, the wedding-daysWere coming to an end. Al l down the l ine 45Fresh couples c l imbed aboard: the rest stood round;The last confett i and advice were thrown,And, as we moved, each face seemed to def ineJust what i t saw depart ing: ch i ldren f rownedAt something dul l ; fathers had never known 50Success so huge and whol ly farc ica l ;The women sharedThe secret l ike a happy funera l ;Whi le g i r ls , gr ipping the i r handbags t ighter, staredAt a re l ig ious wounding. Free at last , 55And loaded with the sum of a l l they saw,We hurr ied towards London, shuff l ing gouts of steam.Now f ie lds were bui ld ing-plots, and poplars castLong shadows over major roads, and forSome f i f ty minutes, that in t ime would seem 60

Just long enough to sett le hats and sayI near ly d ied,A dozen marr iages got under way.They watched the landscape, s i t t ing s ide by s ide—An Odeon went past, a cool ing tower, 65and someone running up to bowl—and noneThought of the others they would never meetOr how thei r l ives would a l l conta in th is hour.I thought of London spread out in the sun,I ts posta l d ist r icts packed l ike squares of wheat: 70

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There we were a imed. And as we raced acrossBr ight knots of ra i lPast standing Pul lmans, wal ls of b lackened mossCame c lose, and i t was near ly done, th is f ra i lTravel l ing coinc idence; and what i t he ld 75Stood ready to be loosed with a l l the powerThat being changed can g ive. We s lowed again,And as the t ightened brakes took hold, there swel ledA sense of fa l l ing, l ike an arrow-showerSent out of s ight , somewhere becoming ra in. 80

1 . C o n t e n t The Whitsun Weddings is the t i t le poem from Lark in’s best-known col lect ion of

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The title, ‘The Whitsun Weddings’, refers to

Pentecost Sunday, which is the seventh Sunday

after Easter. This was a time in the early Christian

calendar when converts to the Church wore white

robes in honour of their belief in the Holy Spirit.

In this poem, there is the underlying notion that

the wedding is the start of a new life, both for the

married couple and for their respective families.

To this day, Whitsun is a particularly popular time

to celebrate a wedding.

19 nondescript – unremarkable or ordinary.

25 skirls – a shrill cry or sound.

28 pomaded – hair finished with pomade or

another hair product.

30 irresolutely – waveringly or undecidedly.

40 olive-ochres – greenish-gold colours.

44 annexes – separate areas.

51 farcical – ridiculous.

55 religious wounding – here, the speaker is

referring to the act of sexual intercourse.

Once the couple has had sexual relations, the

marriage is said to be consummated. When

sexual intercourse takes place for the first

time, the subsequent rupturing of the hymen

can result in bleeding.

65 Odeon – a commonly used name for a

cinema.

73 Pullmans – named after their inventor, George

Pullman, these are luxury railway carriages or

saloons.

g l o s s a r y

poems. On the day on which Lark in was inspi red to wr i te th is poem, he te l ls us that he caught:

A very slow train that stopped at every station and I

hadn ’t realised that, of course, this was the train that all

the wedding couples would get on and go to London for

their honeymoon; it was an eye-opener to me. Every part

was d i f ferent but the same somehow . They a l l looked

different but they were all doing the same things and sort

of feeling the same things. I suppose the train stopped at

about four, five, six stations between Hull and London and

there was a sense of gathering emotional m o m e n t u m .

Every time you stopped fresh emotion climbed a b o a r d .

And finally between Peterborough and London when y o u

hurtle on, you felt the whole thing was being aimed like a

bullet – at the heart of things, you know. All this fresh,

open life. Incredible experience. I ’ve never forgotten it.

The poem opens with a very personal and di rect statement of fact . The speakerte l ls us that on ‘That Whitsun, [he] was late gett ing away’. The deta i ls are veryspeci f ic ; i t was about ‘One-twenty on [a ] sunl i t Saturday’ . The mood in the opening stanza is re laxed. Al l ‘sense | Of being in a hurry [ is ] gone’. The t ra in moves behind the backs of the houses and, as i ts momentum gathers, the scenery changes. As the t ra in passes by the f ish docks and the r iver, the L incolnshi re countrys ide begins to stretch out before the poet. In the second stanza, we learn that the t ra in fo l lowed a southward curve. ‘W ide farms’ dotted with ‘short-shadowed catt le’ come in and out of v iew. Slowly, the countrys ide g ives way to the smal l towns. ‘Canals wi th f loat ings of industr ia l f roth’ s ignal the approach of a more urban landscape. The area between towns is indicated by hedgerows and the smel l of cut grass. In the poet’s est imat ion, these smal l towns are nondescr ipt . The second stanza c loses with the ugly image of ‘acres of d ismant led cars’ . The speaker reasserts h is presence in the th i rd stanza. He informs us that ‘At f i rst , [he] d idn’t not ice what a noise | The weddings made’. This is the f i rst ment ion of the weddings referred to in the t i t le . The powerfu l sun shin ing down on each of the stat ions that the t ra in stops at h ides ‘what’s happening in the shade’. The speaker admits that he had heard ‘whoops and sk i r ls ’ of exci tement coming f rom the p lat forms. However, he had mistakenly bel ieved that th is noise came f rom the porters messing and jok ing. He now real ises that the commot ion was coming f rom wedding part ies gathered on the

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stat ion p lat forms. The s ight of gr inn ing and pomaded ‘g i r ls | In parodies of fashion, heels and ve i ls ’ grabs the speaker’s at tent ion. These g i r ls stand on the p lat form and wave tentat ive ly at the t ra in. Ant ic ipat ing a s imi lar scene at the next stat ion, the poet leans: More prompt ly out next t ime, more cur ious ly,And saw i t a l l again in d i fferent terms: In great deta i l , the poet descr ibes the scene that greets h im. There is an ‘uncle shout ing smut’ and women wear ing ‘ny lon g loves’ and ‘ jewel lery-subst i tutes’ . The colours of the i r c lothes are br ight , even gar ish, and ‘Marked [ them off ] unreal ly ’ f rom the rest of the crowd on the p lat form. The poet imagines that these wedding part ies have come f rom the surrounding cafés and ‘banquet-hal ls ’ and then remarks that the ‘wedding-days | Were coming to an end’. Meanwhi le, ‘Fresh couples’ cont inue to c l imb on board the t ra in. As they do so, these newly marr ied men and women move away f rom the crowds in the stat ion. The poet sees d i fferent th ings etched on the faces of the people who are there to see the newlyweds off . The chi ldren ‘ f rowned’ whi le the fathers ‘had never known | Success so huge and whol ly farc ica l ’ . The women v iew the wedding couple in a d i fferent l ight . The look on the i r faces impl ies a recogni t ion of the pain that marr iage can br ing. Thei r exper ience of watching the i r daughters depart is descr ibed as being ak in to at tending a funera l . The younger g i r ls ant ic ipate the physica l pa in of the sexual act . The poem picks up momentum s l ight ly towards the end of the seventh stanza: We hurr ied towards London, shuff l ing gouts of steam. Now f ie lds were bui ld ing-plots, and poplars cast Long shadows over major roads, and for Some f i f ty minutes, […]

The seventh stanza runs into the e ighth and, in th is manner, the poem mainta insi ts impetus. The women sett le the i r hats and the uni formity of the i r exper ience isexpressed when they are a l l seen to excla im: ‘ I near ly d ied’ . The landscape cont inues to go by and couples remain f ixated on one another. They g ive l i t t le thought to those other newlyweds on the t ra in whose ‘ l ives would a l l conta in th is hour’ . Suddenly, towards the end of the stanza, the poet begins to th ink of ‘London spread out in the sun, | I ts posta l d ist r icts packed l ike squares of wheat’ . London is the f ina l dest inat ion of th is journey and in the f ina l stanza, i t becomes c lear that the poet has been changed by h is exper ience on the t ra in. The last two l ines of the poem reveal something of the power of th is exper ience. The poet is overwhelmed by:

A sense of fa l l ing, l ike an arrow-shower Sent out of s ight , somewhere becoming ra in.

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The poem i tse l f is a lso t ransformed f rom a s imple commentary on a t ra in r ide to a profound meditat ion on the many paths that l i fe can take.

2 . s t y l i s t i c f e a t u r e s

The persona adopted by Lark in in th is poem echoes many of h is own heart fe l t reservat ions about love and marr iage. Confronted by the s ights and sounds of wedding part ies, the poet is forced to meditate on the concept of marr iage and the new beginning that i t impl ies. The rhythms and metre of the poem create a sensat ion of movement and progress ion. And whi le such movement ref lects the momentum of the t ra in, i t a lso captures something of the progress of the couples as the journey of the i r marr ied l i fe begins. The broad vowel sounds in the opening stanzas create an impress ion of openness that is mir rored inthe descr ipt ions of the countrys ide, but they a lso suggest the sense of hopefu lness associated with marr iage. In stark contrast to a l l of th is is the att i tude of the speaker. He is , un l ike the couples, complete ly a lone. The opening l ine of the poem emphasises h is iso lat ion by stress ing the personal pronoun ‘ I ’ . At t imes in the poem, i t seems as i f the speaker is contemptuous of the people who are tak ing part in the wedding ceremony. The hope and bel ie f in a future l i fe together, symbol ised by the newlyweds’ commitment to marr iage, is contrasted with the fa i l ings of the o lder generat ion. The fathers wi th ‘seamy foreheads’, the ‘mothers loud and fat ’ and the ‘uncle shout ing smut’ remind us that the ideal ism of marr iage fades quick ly into an ugly rea l i ty. Are we meant to suppose that these young, hopefu l couples wi l l eventual ly become as unappeal ing asthe fami l ies that are there to wave them off? In any case, the poem conta ins many crude genera l isat ions. The g i r ls who wai t on the p lat form are adorned in cheap c loth ing that imi tates the fashions of the t ime. The paste l shades of the i r dresses were chosen because they are fashionable, but instead they appear brash and common. The weddings, which were intended to ce lebrate the specia l un iqueness of each re lat ionship, become indist inguishable f rom one another. As t hey boa rd t he t r a i n , t he poe t has t he new l yweds u t t e r i ng t he same exclamat ions. There is a darker s ide a lso to the poem. The women should be enter ing into a new l i fe . However, the rea l i ty is d i fferent. Thei r subjugat ion and repress ion is indicated by the express ions on the faces of the i r mothers. As with many of Lark in’s poems, in “The Whitsun Weddings” i t is of ten qui te d i ff icu l t to determine where the speaker stands. Given that the tone of the poem hints at acynica l at t i tude to marr iage, the f ina l l ines seem cur iously out of p lace. According to Andrew Mot ion:

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Al l the paradoxes which govern Lark in’s thoughts about love arecol lected here in an image adapted f rom a f i lm he had seen as a youngman dur ing the war.

The arrow has been symbol ic of love s ince the ear l iest days of Greek l i terature. Here, at the end of the poem, the speaker is confronted with the joy, exci tement and hope of marr ied l i fe . I t is a joy, however, f rom which he is excluded.[…] We s lowed again, And as the t ightened brakes took hold, there swel ledA sense of fa l l ing, l ike an arrow-shower Sent out of s ight , somewhere becoming ra in. Despi te h is undoubted scept ic ism concern ing marr iage, the speaker has been marked by h is encounter wi th the wedding couples. One suspects that he wi l l leave the t ra in a d i fferent person. Once again, the posi t ion of the speaker is ambiguous.

3. essay wr i t ing This complex poem is considered by many to typi fy Lark in’s poet ic sty le. This fact a lone makes i t worthy of inc lus ion in any personal response that you may berequired to wr i te on Lark in’s poetry. When prepar ing an essay that ment ions “The Whitsun Weddings” , you might want to inc lude some of the fo l lowing points:

a. The tone of the speaker’s vo ice is , at t imes, cynica l .

b. The language of the poem is in fused with an energy that gathers and grows unt i l the couples reach the i r f ina l dest inat ion.

c. Once again, Lark in examines the not ion of love and marr iage. In th is respect, the poem can be compared to An Arundel Tomb and Wedding Wind.

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An Arundel Tomb

Side by s ide, the i r faces b lurred,The ear l and countess l ie in stone,Thei r proper habi ts vaguely shownAs jo inted armour, st i f fened pleat ,And that fa int h int of the absurd — 5The l i t t le dogs under the i r feet .

Such pla inness of the pre-baroqueHardly involves the eye, unt i lI t meets h is le f t-hand gaunt let , st i l lC lasped empty in the other; and 10One sees, wi th a sharp tender shock,His hand withdrawn, hold ing her hand.

They would not th ink to l ie so long.Such fa i thfu lness in eff igyWas just a deta i l f r iends would see: 15A sculptor’s sweet commiss ioned graceThrown off in he lp ing to pro longThe Lat in names around the base.

They would not guess how ear ly inThei r supine stat ionary voyage 20The a i r would change to soundless damage,Turn the o ld tenantry away;How soon succeeding eyes beginTo look, not read. Rig id ly they

Pers isted, l inked, through lengths and breadths 25Of t ime. Snow fe l l , undated. L ightEach summer thronged the g lass. A br ightL i t ter of b i rdcal ls st rewed the sameBone-r iddled ground. And up the pathsThe endless a l tered people came, 30

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Washing at the i r ident i ty.Now, help less in the hol low ofAn unarmor ia l age, a t roughOf smoke in s low suspended skeinsAbove the i r scrap of h istory, 35Only an att i tude remains:

T ime has t ransf igured them intoUntruth. The stone f ide l i tyThey hardly meant has come to beTheir f ina l b lazon, and to prove 40Our a lmost- inst inct a lmost t rue:What wi l l surv ive of us is love.

g l o s s a r y

The t i t le , ‘An Arundel Tomb’, refers to a

tomb in Chichester Cathedra l in England. Arundel is a town in West Sussex.

2 l ie in stone – th is refers to the carv ing on the tombstone. The word ‘stone’ is the

f i rst in a ser ies of words that h int at a lack of movement.

4 st i f fened pleat – hard fo ld. The words‘ jo inted’ and ‘p leat ’ suggest connect ion

and re lat ionship.7 pre-baroque – the baroque sty le was

character ised by a h igh degree of

ornamentat ion. The statue is in keeping

with the p la in, unadorned sty le of the ‘pre-baroque’ era.

9 gaunt let – g love.14 eff igy – a sculpture of a person.

20 supine – inc l ined or ly ing on your back.22 tenantry – those who l ive as tenants.

33 unarmor ia l – not conta in ing armour or a crest of arms. The statue now exists in

an age that has no interest in fami ly crests of arms. 34 skeins – loosely t ied

coi l or standard length of thread or yarn.

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1. Content

“An Arundel Tomb” opens with the depict ion of an engrav ing on the sur face of atomb. We learn that the couple l ie ‘s ide by s ide’ and that the i r faces have become ‘b lurred’ by the passing of t ime. The speaker then descr ibes p leats on the couple’s garments, the i r ‘ jo inted armour’ and the carved ‘ l i t t le dogs under the i r feet ’ . In the second f ive- l ine stanza, we learn that th is carv ing is ord inary and pla in. Etched in the ‘pre-baroque’ sty le, which is known for i ts p la inness, th is carv ing ‘Hardly involves’ the poet’s eye. However, in the th i rd l ine the speaker h ints at why th is statue fascinates h im. The ‘ le f t-hand gaunt let ’ is empty because the f igure has removed i t in order to hold h is wi fe’s hand. This deta i l comes as a ‘sharp tender shock’ to the poet. Comment ing further on the couple, the speaker points out that they would never have imagined ly ing together for so long. The poet then wonders whether the couple had ever intended such a deta i led statue to be seen by anyone other then the i r f r iends. The speaker imagines that th is couple and the sculptor they commiss ioned would have v iewed the statue as mere ly being a dev ice to ‘pro long’ the fami ly name. In the fourth stanza, we learn that there is no way, in the ear ly days of the i r long ‘supine stat ionary voyage’, that the couple could have understood how much the wor ld would change. They would have been ignorant of the extent to which the i r tomb would be affected by the processes of weather ing. S imi lar ly, they would have been surpr ised at the socia l changes that have occurred. The o ld ‘ tenantry’ have a l l but d isappeared and people can no longer read Lat in:Turn the o ld tenantry away; How soon succeeding eyes begin To look, not read.

The fourth and f i f th stanzas run on into one another. Here, we learn that th is couple has ‘Pers isted, l inked, through lengths and breadths | Of t ime The poet imagines the changing of the seasons that have gone unrecorded. In the last l ine of the f i f th stanza, we return to the present age of mass tour ism: And up the paths The endless a l tered people came, The sheer number of people v is i t ing the tomb has helped to erode the engrav ings on i ts sur face. In th is sense, they are ‘Washing at the i r ident i ty ’ . The couple have come down through h istory and now l ie ‘he lp less in the hol low of | An unarmor ia l age’. Today, there is l i t t le interest in coats of arms or fami ly h istory. In the f ina l stanza, we learn that th is couple have become ‘ t ransf igured […] into | Untruth’ . Cast in stone, they have achieved a leve l of f ide l i ty they could never have intended. This accident of t ime, by which the couple have come to symbol ise last ing love, is v iewed by the poet as being h ighly s igni f icant. However, whi le the statue reminds us that love can endure, i t

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also reminds us that noth ing, inc luding love i tse l f , is complete ly f ree f rom the ravages of t ime.

2. sty l is t ic featuresThis is a very complex poem that poses some very interest ing quest ions. “An Arundel Tomb’s” structure is s imple and stra ight forward. This construct ion mirrors the ordinary, ‘pre-baroque’ sty le of the tomb i tse l f . The poem opens with a strong v isual image of the stone worn away by the passing of t ime. I t has been ‘b lurred’ by the agents of eros ion. However, th is process has taken place at an a lmost impercept ib ly s low pace. An impress ion of th is s low passing of t ime is achieved through the use of a l l i terat ion and soft s ib i lant ‘s ’ sounds. Not ice how the ‘ f ’ sound in ‘ fa i thfu lness’ is p icked up again in the word ‘eff igy’ . This whisper ing sound is captured again in such l ines as ‘sweet commiss ioned grace’. The f low of the poem cont inues uninterrupted unt i l the f i f th stanza.Here, the use of caesura breaks the l ines up and interrupts the progress ion of thought. In th is manner, the destruct ive effects of the passing of t ime are ref lected in the poem’s structure. One of the more interest ing features of th is poem is i ts overa l l lack of c lar i ty. At t imes, i t is as i f the poet is not qui te sure what to make of the statue. This lack of c lar i ty is f i rst int roduced in the opening l ine wi th the word ‘b lurred’. In the f i rst stanza, the poet te l ls us that :

The ear l and countess l ie in stone, Their proper habi ts vaguely shown

The use of the word ‘ l ie ’ is very interest ing here. The speaker explo i ts the ambigui ty between the two meanings of the word. ‘L ie’ can mean to rest or to te l l an untruth. So, f rom the outset , the speaker may be suggest ing that the statue l ies to us about the not ion of never-ending love. S imi lar ly, words such as ‘ fa int ’ , ‘h int ’ , ‘hardly’ , ‘a lmost’ and ‘vaguely’ a l l suggest a lack of purpose. These words, when taken into considerat ion with the equivocal f ina l l ine of the poem, lead the reader to quest ion the centra l message of “An Arundel Tomb”. Does Lark in rea l ly bel ieve that love can see off the ravages of t ime? At the end of the manuscr ipt draf t of the poem, the poet wrote: [ …] love isn’t st ronger than death just because statues hold hands for 600 years.

According to h is b iographer, Andrew Mot ion, th is is ‘a remark which re inforced,

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pr ivate ly, the sense of fut i l i ty that hovers around the poem’s conclus ion in words l ike “help less”, “scrap”, “at t i tude”, “Untruth” and “a lmost”’ . In fact , the poem is purposely ambiguous. On the one hand, i ts language suggests a last ing, even t imeless, re lat ionship and on the other hand, the poem recognises that the lovers are dead. Words l ike ‘p leat ’ and ‘ jo inted’ lead us to the centra l image of the two f igures with the i r hands c lasped together. However, the reader is never a l lowed to forget that th is pai r of lovers is dead and the wor ld they knew has long s ince faded away. The v is i tors to the tomb symbol ise the extent to which the wor ld has changed. The o ld h ierarchies of socia l order have vanished andpeople can no longer read Lat in. One of the most profound changes that has taken place in the wor ld is impl ied but never stated expl ic i t ly by the poet. Our at t i tude to love has been radica l ly a l tered s ince th is couple commiss ioned thei r statue.Marr iage The speaker explo i ts the ambigui ty in certa in words. The v is i tors to the tomb symbol ise the extent to which the wor ld has moved on. Marr iage is no longer seen as being for l i fe and the idea of unending love is widely d isparaged in the modern wor ld. Conrad Brunström bel ieves that the f ina l stanza of “An Arundel Tomb” is of ten misread, even by l i terary cr i t ics:

The ‘a lmost- inst inct a lmost t rue’ does not demonstrate that love lasts for a l l etern i ty but only that love can seem to last . The fact that ‘ love’ does not qui te rhyme with ‘prove’ is i l lustrat ive of th is decept ive seeming. This is a memorable poem that forces i ts readers to reth ink deeply he ld bel ie fs about love, death and the passing of t ime.

3. essay wr i t ing

“An Arundel Tomb” has much in common with many of the poems by Lark in on the course. As such, you might want to consider us ing the poem in an overa l l response to Lark in’s poetry. I f you decide to use the poem in an essay, you might want to consider some of the fo l lowing points:a. Once again, Lark in deals wi th the passing of t ime. In th is sense, i t ispossib le to compare and contrast “An Arundel Tomb” and “Church Going” .b. The not ion of endur ing love is a source of fasc inat ion to the poet. Here,again, Lark in examines th is theme. Consider a compar ison between th ispoem and “The Whitsun Weddings” .c. The poem reveals Lark in’s keen eye for deta i l .

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Church Going

Once I am sure there’s noth ing going onI step ins ide, let t ing the door thud shut.Another church: matt ing, seats, and stone,And l i t t le books; sprawl ings of f lowers, cutFor Sunday, brownish now; some brass and stuff 5Up at the holy end; the smal l neat organ;And a tense, musty, unignorable s i lence,Brewed God knows how long. Hat less, I take offMy cycle-c l ips in awkward reverence,

Move forward, run my hand around the font. 10From where I stand, the roof looks a lmost new—Cleaned, or restored? Someone would know: I don’t .Mount ing the lectern, I peruse a fewHector ing large-scale verses, and pronounce‘Here endeth’ much more loudly than I ’d meant. 15The echoes snigger br ie f ly. Back at the doorI s ign the book, donate an I r ish s ixpence,Ref lect the p lace was not worth stopping for.Yet stop I d id: in fact I of ten do,And a lways end much at a loss l ike th is, 20Wonder ing what to look for ; wonder ing, too,When churches fa l l complete ly out of useWhat we shal l turn them into, i f we shal l keepA few cathedra ls chronica l ly on show,Their parchment, p late and pyx in locked cases, 25And let the rest rent- f ree to ra in and sheep.Shal l we avoid them as unlucky p laces?

Or, af ter dark, wi l l dubious women comeTo make the i r ch i ldren touch a part icu lar stone;Pick s imples for a cancer; or on some 30Advised n ight see walk ing a dead one?Power of some sort or other wi l l go onIn games, in r iddles, seemingly at random;But superst i t ion, l ike bel ie f , must d ie,

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And what remains when disbel ie f has gone? 35Grass, weedy pavement, brambles, butt ress, sky,

A shape less recognisable each week,A purpose more obscure. I wonder whoWi l l be the last , the very last , to seekThis p lace for what i t was; one of the crew 40That tap and jot and know what rood- lof ts were?Some ru in-bibber, randy for ant ique,Or Chr istmas-addict , count ing on a whi ffOf gown-and-bands and organ-pipes and myrrh?Or wi l l he be my representat ive, 45

Bored, uninformed, knowing the ghost ly s i l tD ispersed, yet tending to th is cross of groundThrough suburb scrub because i t he ld unspi l tSo long and equably what s ince is foundOnly in separat ion—marr iage, and bi r th, 50And death, and thoughts of these—for which was bui l tTh is specia l shel l? For, though I ’ve no ideaWhat th is accoutred f rowsty barn is worth,I t p leases me to stand in s i lence here;

A ser ious house on ser ious earth i t is , 55In whose blent a i r a l l our compuls ions meet,Are recognised, and robed as dest in ies.And that much never can be obsolete,Since someone wi l l forever be surpr is ingA hunger in h imsel f to be more ser ious, 60And grav i tat ing with i t to th is ground,Which, he once heard, was proper to grow wise in,I f on ly that so many dead l ie round.

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g l o s s a r y

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4 sprawl ings – ragged bunches of f lowers.

10 font – vessel for bapt is ing.13 lectern – a s tand f rom which the

scr ipture is read.14 Hector ing – badger ing or at tempt ing to

in te r rup t ano the r pe rson wh i l e he /she ta lks.

24 chronica l ly – constant ly.25 parchment – wr i t ing paper.

25 pyx – a conta iner in which wafers for the Euchar ist are kept. In the Cathol ic

re l ig ion, the Euchar ist is bread and wine t h a t h a s b e e n c o n s e c r a t e d a n d i s

consumed in remembrance o f Jesus ’s death.

28 dubious – uncerta in or doubtfu l .30 s imples – herbal cures.

38 obscure – unclear.41 rood- lof ts – gal ler ies bui l t above a

rood sc reen . The rood sc reen was a c o m m o n f e a t u r e i n l a t e m e d i e v a l

churches. I ts funct ion was to separate the

c lergy f rom the la i ty, i .e. those in the

congregat ion who weren’t members of theclergy.

42 ru in-bibber – a b ibber is someone who

l ikes to dr ink. Here, the poet probably means someone who l ikes to s i f t through

ru ins.42 randy – th is word is usual ly associated

with someone who displays f rank, uninhib i ted sexual i ty. However, i t can a lso

be used to mean i l l -mannered. Here, the poet probably intends the word to mean

someone lust ing af ter ant iques.44 gown-and-bands – ceremonia l dress.

44 myrrh – an expensive, aromat ic o i l . Myrrh was one of the g i f ts taken to the

baby Jesus by the three wise men.47 Dispersed – spread out.

53 accoutred – dressed or equipped.53 f rowsty – stuffy.

56 compuls ions – i r res ist ib le impulses.61 grav i tat ing – moving towards.

1 . c o n t e n tIn a manner typica l of Lark in’s poet ic sty le, Church Going opens in a modest,understated fashion: Once I am sure there’s nothing going on I step inside, lett ing the door thud shut.

From the outset , i t is c lear th is is going to be a monologue of a personal nature. To begin wi th, the poet adopts the persona of an inter loper or t respasser. Once ins ide the church, the speaker takes in a l l the paraphernal ia of the church. There are ‘ l i t t le books ’and ‘sprawlings of f lowers ’ which were cutfor Sunday’s mass but have now gone brownish in colour. In the f ront of the church, which the speaker descr ibes as being the ‘holy end ’ , there is a ‘small neat organ ’ . The ent i re church is in fused with a ‘tense, musty, unignorable si lence ’ . I t is customary for men to remove the i r hats on enter ing a church. However, not wear ing a hat, the poet fee ls compel led to make some gesture that wi l l demonstrate respect. He chooses to remove h is cycle-c l ips in ‘awkward reverence ’ . In the second stanza, the poet begins to interact wi th the church. He runs h is hand around the font and wonders about the condi t ion of the roof as one would wonder about the condi t ion of the soul : ‘Cleaned, or restored?’ He moves forward and mounts the lectern. The speaker begins to peruse the scr ipture and procla ims the words ‘“Here endeth”much more loudly ’ than he intended. He fee ls a l i t t le s i l ly and the echo f rom his own voice appears to sn igger at h im. Moving back towards the ex i t , he s igns the v is i tors’ book and ‘donate[s] an Ir ish sixpence ’ to the church col lect ion box. Of course, th is is not legal tender in Great Br i ta in. He then ref lects on h is v is i t and decides that the p lace was ‘not worth stopping for ’ . In the th i rd stanza, the poet begins to

wonder about h is decis ion to stop in the f i rst p lace. He te l ls us that he of ten stops to v is i t churches l ike th is one. Cur iously, he is le f t wi th the same fee l ings of uncerta inty each t ime the v is i t is over. The speaker then begins to examine the ro le that churches p lay in a wor ld that is becoming increasingly secular. He wonders what wi l l become of church bui ld ings once they have fa l len complete ly out of use. W i l l some of them become museum pieces ‘chronical ly on show ’ , but no longer funct ional? In the f ina l l ines of the th i rd stanza, the speaker compares a d isused church to the re l ig ious ru ins of our pagan past. He wonders i f in the future, when church bui ld ings have fa l len into complete ru in, they wi l l be considered unlucky p laces, as is the case with pagan ru ins. The th i rd and fourth stanzas are l inked by a run-on l ine. In keeping with the prev ious stanza, the fourth stanza opens with the poet wonder ing whether church grounds wi l l

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eventual ly become the haunt of wi tches or ‘dubious women ’ . These women he imagines wi l l :

[…] make their chi ldren touch a part icular stone; Pick simples for a cancer; or on some Advised night see walking a dead one?

However, even these superst i t ious act iv i t ies wi l l fade with t ime. He then looks forward to a t ime when the s i te of the church has become complete ly d issociated f rom spir i tua l i ty or bel ie f . The ru ins wi l l become less recognisable each week as they succumb to the ravages of t ime. This leads the poet to speculate about who wi l l be the last person ‘to seek | This place for what it was ’ . He suggests i t may wel l be someone who specia l ises in ru ins, such as an archaeologist or ‘Some ruin-bibber, randy for antique ’ . Th is stanza ends with the poet speculat ing that a future v is i tor to th is p lace may wel l be some:

[…] Christmas-addict, counting on a whiff Of gown-and-bands and organ-pipes and myrrh?

2. sty l is t ic features

This poem conta ins two of Lark in’s favour i te themes: spi r i tua l i ty and the passing of t ime. In the poem, the poet takes on the persona of an ordinary man try ing tounderstand the ro le of the Church in an increasingly secular wor ld. However, thepoem real ly conta ins two inter laced voices. F i rst ly, there is the col loquia l , workaday voice of the speaker. This vo ice emerges c lear ly in such phrases as ‘ I don’t ’ and ‘ I ’ve no idea ’ . S ince the poem is wr i t ten in iambic pentameter (a meter part icu lar ly su i ted to normal vo ice patterns) , the speaker’s vo ice sounds natura l . Yet, despi te a l l th is, a more scholar ly vo ice intrudes f rom t ime to t ime. At var ious points in the poem, the speaker’s knowledge of re l ig ious vocabulary goes beyond that of the layman. By a l lowing th is aspect of the speaker’s vo ice to encroach on the narrat ive, Lark in manages to convey something of the myst ique of the t radi t ional Church.At the same t ime, we are made to fee l that words l ike ‘pyx ’ , ‘font ’ and ‘plate ’ are rea l ly no longer s igni f icant to the common man. The not ion that the Church is no longer complete ly re levant is , of course, at the heart of th is poem. The ambiguous t i t le h ints at the poem’s centra l thes is, the idea that the ‘Church

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[ is] Going ’ . In order to grasp the s igni f icance of th is, i t is important to comprehend the crucia l ro le that church bui ld ings have p layed in European cul ture. In socia l , legal , ar t is t ic and, of course, re l ig ious terms, the Church l i tera l ly lay at the heart of western society for near ly 2,000 years. This fact remained largely unchanged unt i l the lat ter ha l f of the last century. Yet, ‘Church Going’ does not art icu late the centra l ro le that the Church played in the past. Rather, the poem looks to the future and imagines a wor ld wi thout the Church. In so doing, Lark in reveals (a lbe i t in a subt le manner ) the important ro le that t radi t ions p lay. I f th is poem had ended af ter the second stanza, i t would have been very easy to d ismiss the speaker as deprecat ing the importance of the Church. However, once the speaker leaves the church, i t becomes apparent that th is is not the f i rst t ime that he has v is i ted such a bui ld ing. This honest admiss ion reveals that the Church st i l l ho lds an important p lace in the poet’s l i fe . Even when the poet imagines the d isappearance of th is church, he st i l l env isages people being drawn to th is s i te. A l though Lark in was an agnost ic member of the Angl ican Church, he once pointed out (comment ing on the decl ine of the Church of England) that ‘the Catholic Church would be

better than nothing ’ . Whi le ‘Church Going’ does look forward to a t ime

when the formal Church wi l l lose i ts re levance to everyday l i fe , the poem also celebrates, in an understated manner, the t radi t ions of the Church. The speaker in th is poem is ev ident ly a person without fa i th, but the tone of the speaker’s vo ice betrays h is need to recover something of the comfort that fa i th prov ides. When f i rst publ ished, th is poem helped to establ ish Lark in’s reputat ion as an important, post-war poet. Most cr i t ics agree that ‘Church Going’ incorporates into i ts very structure the openness and se l f -scrut iny that came to be hal lmarks of Lark in’s sty le.

3. essay wr i t ing‘Church Going’ is one of Lark in’s best-known poems. I t a lso exhib i ts many sty l is t ic features typica l of h is poetry. I f you are consider ing inc luding the poem in a response to Lark in’s poetry, you might want to consider some of the fo l lowing:a. The poem deals wi th loss and the passing of t ime. These are recurrent themes in Lark in’s work. You might want to devote an ent i re paragraph to th is aspect of h is poetry.b. Once again, Lark in adopts a persona. This is a typica l feature of h is work.c. The tone of the speaker’s vo ice changes dur ing the course of the poem. This matches the change in h is understanding of the ro le of the Church. Lark in tends to make subt le use of tone to enhance the overa l l e ffect of h is poems.

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MCMXIV

Those long uneven l inesStanding as pat ient lyAs i f they were stretched outs ideThe Oval or V i l la Park,The crowns of hats, the sun 5On moustached archaic facesGr inning as i f i t were a l lAn August Bank Hol iday lark;

And the shut shops, the b leachedEstabl ished names on the sunbl inds, 10The far th ings and sovere igns,And dark-c lothed chi ldren at p layCal led af ter k ings and queens,The t in advert isementsFor cocoa and twist , and the pubs 15Wide open a l l day;

And the countrys ide not car ing:The place-names a l l hazed overWith f lower ing grasses, and f ie ldsShadowing Domesday l ines 20Under wheat’s rest less s i lence;The di fferent ly-dressed servantsWith t iny rooms in huge houses,The dust behind l imousines;

Never such innocence, 25Never before or s ince,As changed i tse l f to pastWithout a word – the menLeaving the gardens t idy,The thousands of marr iages 30Last ing a l i t t le whi le longer:Never such innocence again.

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g l o s s a r y

The t i t le , ‘MCMXIV’, is the year 1914 r e p r e s e n t e d i n r o m a n n u m e r a l s . Nineteen fourteen saw the outbreak of Wor ld War One. Not ice how the roman n u m e r a l s l e n d t h e p o e m t h e appearance of a war monument.4 The Oval or V i l la Park – the Oval is the headquarters of Engl ish cr icket and V i l la Park is the home ground of the wel l -known Engl ish footbal l team Aston V i l la . Here, both these grounds act as metaphors for the c lass d iv is ions in Engl ish society. The upper c lass t radi t ional ly supports cr icket, whi le the lower and middle c lasses fo l low soccer.6 archaic – o ld-fashioned.

11 far th ings and sovere igns – types of coin used at th is t ime.13 Cal led af ter k ings and queens – o ld-fashioned names, such as Albert and V ictor ia.15 cocoa – a chocolate- f lavoured dr ink.15 twist – a twisted ro l l of tobacco.20 Domesday l ines – in 1086,Wi l l iam the Conqueror ordered that a l l the terr i tor ia l d iv is ions of England be recorded. The book in which these boundar ies were recorded was known as the Domesday Book. Domesday isa lso the name given in the Bib le to Judgement Day.

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1. Content

‘MCMXIV’ captures a moment in t ime before the onset of one of the mosthorrendous episodes in human h istory – Wor ld War One. In the opening l ines, weare presented with the s ight of long queues of men:

Standing as patiently As if they were stretched outside The Oval or Vi l la Park,

The disturb ing rea l i ty, however, is that these men are not queuing for a footbal l match or a game of cr icket. They are, in fact , standing in l ine to enl ist in a war f rom which most of them wi l l not return. Thei r innocence is captured in the image of the i r ‘archaic faces | Grinning as i f i t were al l | An August Bank Holiday lark ’ . In the second stanza, the hol iday atmosphere cont inues to prevai l . The shops are c losed for the long weekend, and the chi ldren are at p lay. Throughout th is stanza, a number of images h ighl ight the extent to which th is wor ld has vanished. The currency ( ‘farthings and sovereigns ’ ) has passed into h istory. The c lothes that the chi ldren wear are no longer fashionable and the i r names no longer popular. What is not stated, however, is the fact that Wor ld War One wi l l accelerate the pace of th is change. In the th i rd stanza, there is a sh i f t in locat ion. We move f rom the c i ty to the ‘countryside ’ . There is a lazy, hazy fee l to the poet’s depict ion of these f ina l days of summer in 1914:

And the countryside not caring: The place-names al l hazed over With f lowering grasses, and f ields

In the fourth l ine of th is stanza, we receive our f i rst indicat ion that a l l is not wel l . The ment ion of ‘Domesday l ines ’ casts a shadow over the poet’s beaut i fu l descr ipt ion of the countrys ide. The absence of human voices is replaced by the sound of ‘wheat’s rest less s i lence’. In the c los ing l ines of the th i rd stanza, we are reminded once again of the c lass d i fferences that ex isted in England before the war. Houses with ‘differently-dressed servants ’ are a th ing of the past. The f ina l stanza expresses in c lear terms what was prev iously impl ied. The speaker reminds us that there was:

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Never such innocence, Never before or since, As changed itself to past

The innocent wor ld that the speaker refers to vanished with the onset of Wor ld War One. In these f ina l days before the war in August 1914, the men remain ignorant of the fact that the i r marr iages wi l l on ly ‘ [ last ] a l i t t le whi le longer’ .

2. sty l is t ic features

Most cr i t ics agree that MCMXIV is a nosta lg ic poem that laments the passing of a way of l i fe . The f i rst two stanzas re ly on a number of images and quiet ly stated a l lus ions to achieve the i r effect . In part icu lar, the ment ion of ‘Vil la Park’ and ‘The Oval ’ h igh l ights the extent to which Br i ta in was div ided a long c lass l ines before the war. Wor ld War One changed a l l that . The upper c lasses suffered as much as the work ing c lass. In fact , the l i fe expectancy of a middle-ranked off icer was less than that of an enl isted sold ier. Furthermore, the dra in on manpower and the socia l chaos created by the war put an end to the servant–master re lat ionship that had dominated Br i t ish l i fe up to 1914. The image of ‘archaic faces’ wi th moustaches seems, at f i rst , to refer to speci f ic photographs but, on c loser inspect ion, i t proves to be a representat ion of our col lect ive image of the t ime. We have a l l seen the s i lent newsreels of the era and the images in the f i rst two stanzas are representat ive of how we imagine the men of that per iod looked. This nosta lg ic recol lect ion of a wor ld that no longer ex ists extends into the th i rd stanza. The depict ion of the Engl ish countrys ide in th is stanza is , in Andrew Mot ion’s opin ion, ‘part of a vanished ideal , a better wor ld than ours, marooned on the wrong s ide of a colossal war’ . The poem moves s lowly, but inev i tably, towards the f ina l stanza. The extensive use of the present part ic ip le – ‘Standing’, ‘Grinning’, ‘caring’, ‘ f lowering’ and ‘Leaving ’ – suggests an easy, f lowing sense of permanence and stabi l i ty. The poem does not conta in a main verb; th is fact , coupled with the lack of int rus ive punctuat ion, re inforces th is smooth, f lowing sense of cont inu i ty. However, a l l the whi le, the spectre of war hangs over the poem. The l ives that those men took for granted are going to be much shorter than the grammar of the poem would suggest. The men who stand in the queues in the f i rst stanza would later form what became known as the ‘pals’ batta l ions’ .Most of these men were to d ie in the insani ty of the Br i t ish advances on the German l ines in 1916. The Great War was a horr i f icfau l t l ine in European h istory. ‘MCMXIV’ is more than a nosta lg ic t r ip down memory lane. I t is a poem that memor ia l ises a generat ion that was v i r tua l ly

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wiped out. The roman numerals, a long with the shape of the poem, evoke images of a cenotaph or commemorat ive monument. Much of the imagery in the poem is br ight and cheerfu l . However, on c loser examinat ion, you should not ice that dark colours, shades and shadows are present in near ly every stanza. There is a lso an eer ie and foreboding lack of human voices throughout the poem.

3. essay wr i t ingI f you are th ink ing of inc luding ‘MCMXIV’ in your essay, you may wish to consider the fo l lowing points:

a. The poem amounts to a powerfu l and emot ional depict ion of a vanished wor ld.Nosta lg ia is a common feature of Lark in’s poetry and you may wish to devote a paragraph to th is aspect of h is wr i t ing. b. Unl ike many of the poems on the course, Lark in chooses not to adopt the voice of a persona.c. The poem is honest and rea l is t ic. I t does not seek to g lor i fy the patr iot ism of

those about to d ie.

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The Explos ion

On the day of the explos ionShadows pointed towards the p i thead:In the sun the s lagheap s lept.

Down the lane came men in p i tbootsCoughing oath-edged ta lk and pipe-smoke, 5Shoulder ing off the f reshened s i lence.

One chased af ter rabbi ts; lost them;Came back with a nest of lark’s eggs;Showed them; lodged them in the grasses.

So they passed in beards and moleskins, 10Fathers, brothers, n icknames, laughter,Through the ta l l gates standing open.

At noon, there came a t remor; cowsStopped chewing for a second; sun,Scarfed as in a heat-haze, d immed. 15

The dead go on before us, theyAre s i t t ing in God’s house in comfort ,We shal l see them face to face –

Pla in as let ter ing in the chapelsI t was sa id, and for a second 20Wives saw men of the explos ion

Larger than in l i fe they managed –Gold as on a coin, or walk ingSomehow from the sun towards them,

One showing the eggs unbroken. 25

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1 . C o n t e n tLark in was prompted to wr i te The Explos ion af ter watching a te lev is ion documentary about the min ing industry in 1969. The poem opens with a stark statement of fact . We learn that ‘On the day of the explosion | Shadows pointed towards the pithead ’ . The ment ion of shadows a longside the word ‘explosion ’ creates a sense of foreboding. In the f i rst stanza, there is an uneasy s i lence, which is only broken by the arr iva l of the ‘men in pitboots ’ in the second tercet . These men are l ive ly ; they cough ‘oath-edged talk and pipe-smoke ’ . In the fourth stanza, the men pass through the ta l l gates of the p i thead wear ing ‘moleskins ’ . By the f i f th tercet , i t becomes apparent that t ime has moved on. The men are now below the sur face. I t is noon and the f i rst indicat ion that something has gone horr ib ly wrong is fe l t when a ‘tremor ’ reaches the sur face. The cows stop ‘Chewing for a second ’ . However, at th is d istance f rom the explos ion, these animals are ‘Scarfed ’ or protected f rom any harm. In the s ixth stanza, which is set off f rom the rest of the poem by i ta l ics, we are then g iven an extract f rom what is presumably the funera l sermon of these men. Instead of dwel l ing on the men’s deaths, th is sermon is l i fe aff i rming.

g l o s s a r y

W h e n re a d i n g T h e E x p l o s i o n o n e b e c o m e s a w a r e t h a t t h e r e i s a percept ib le sh i f t in the poem, f rom a rea l is t ic account of the d isaster, to a m o r e s u r r e a l d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e surv ivors.2 p i thead – the top part of a mine i n c l u d i n g t h e s h a f t e n t r a n c e a n d bui ld ings.3 s lagheap – a man-made h i l l formed f rom the by-product of coal min ing.4 p i tboots – heavy work boots worn by miners.

8 l a r k ’s eggs – t he eggs o f t he sky lark, a b i rd nat ive to England and I re land.10 moleskins – a heavy-duty mater ia l worn by workmen inc luding miners.1 5 S c a r f e d – w r a p p e d u p . T h e speaker could intend th is to mean protected f rom the explos ion.

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We are promised that the men:

Are s i t t ing in God’s house in comfort , We shal l see them face to face –

I n t h e s e v e n t h s t a n z a , t h e s p e a k e r a s s u re s u s t h a t t h i s m e s s a g e i s unambiguous, that i t is as ‘Plain as lettering in the chapels ’ . Myster ious ly, the wives of the men see the ‘men of the explosion | Larger than in l i fe ’ . The imagery in the last three l ines of the poem is br ight and, in th is manner, i t reaff i rms the not ion of l i fe af ter death. The men are surrounded by l ight and they walk towards the i r wives whi le one of them holds the unbroken lark’s eggs.

2. sty l is t ic features

This beaut i fu l poem evokes a sense of community that manages to t ranscend death. The men at the heart of the poem are ‘Fathers ’ and ‘brothers ’ . They are work ing men, and th is aspect of the i r characters is suggested by a number of indicators. They wear ‘pitboots ’ , ‘moleskins ’ and cough ‘oath-edged talk and pipesmoke ’ . However, for a l l these rough edges, the men are made to appear connected to the i r env i ronment. The image of the young man tak ing the lark’s nest only to return i t safe ly is a moving and tender evocat ion of gent leness and care. Furthermore, the egg i tse l f has long been symbol ic of the cycle of l i fe . Not ice how, when the man returns, these eggs remain unharmed and unbroken. In th is respect, we are assured in a subt le manner that despi te the impending disaster, l i fe goes on. The poem manages to suggest that something awful is about to happen through a number of symbol ic associat ions. The shadows that point towards the p i thead are ominous. In a s imi lar fashion, the ta l l gates that stand open can be read as an a l lus ion to the gates of heaven. In a more obviousfashion, the t remor that d isturbs the cows chewing the grass indicates a powerfu l , yet d istant, explos ion. The distant nature of th is explos ion not only makes i t seem myster ious but, more important ly, i t st resses the inexpl icable nature of the women’s v is ion of the i r dead husbands walk ing towards them. The poet makes no effort to expla in how or why the women could have seen the i r husbands, but th is v is ion does seem to be l inked to the message that is g iven dur ing the funera l sermon. In th is sermon, we are assured that the ‘dead go on before us ’ and that ‘We shall see them face to face ’ . And, indeed, th is is what happens in the f ina l movement of the poem. ‘Plain as lettering in the chapels ’ , the wives see the i r husbands. In death, the men are complete ly

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t ransformed. Normal ly covered in coal dust, the men are now bathed in l ight . In a f ina l gesture, one of the men shows the unbroken eggs. The f ragi l i ty of the eggs not only suggests the f ragi l i ty of l i fe i tse l f , but a lso h ints at the f ra i l ty of the bonds of fami ly, society and love that l inked the men to th is min ing community. Interest ingly, the poem’s construct ion mirrors i ts theme. The poet’s use of tense is ,according to the cr i t ic Andrew Swarbr ick, very effect ive. He bel ieves that : … the manipulat ion of tenses ( f rom the cont inuous present tense of the pastor’s quoted words to the past ‘ i t was sa id’ and the ‘wives saw men’, and forward to the present part ic ip les of the momentary v is ion) creates the logic by which the men walk ‘Somehow from the sun’, at the very moment i t has ‘d immed’ for the underground explos ion. The effect of th is i s qui te miraculously to annih i late the moment of death not by meekly edi t ing i t out of the poem, but by bui ld ing i t in to what surv ives that moment of death. The men are unbroken l ike the eggs. They have s imply passed ‘Through the ta l l gates standing open’.

Whi le the use of tenses in the poem works to cancel out the deaths of the men,Lark in’s use of rhythm creates a solemn, funereal fee l ing. This cont inues unt i l t he f i na l l i ne , when sudden l y the poe t emp loys a comp le te l y d i f f e ren t rhythm.Whi le th is creates a sudden and jarr ing sense of loss, i t a lso suggests that the men have moved on to a d i fferent p lane. In th is fashion, the reader is made to fee l the fu l l impact of the men’s deaths. The Explos ion is unl ike most of the other poems by Lark in on the Leaving Cert i f icate course. I t t reats a mys te r i ous and sp i r i t ua l moment o f p ro found loss i n a respec t fu l and unquest ion ing manner. The i ronic tone that dominates so much of Lark in’s work is absent. In short , th is is a profoundly emot ional poem that acknowledges the possib i l i ty of l i fe af ter death.

3. essay wr i t ingI f you are th ink ing of inc luding The Explos ion in your essay, you may wish toconsider the fo l lowing points:a. The poem is a powerfu l and emot ional depict ion of the f ragi l i ty ofhuman l i fe . Death, the passing of t ime and loss are major themes inLark in’s poetry. As such, you may wish to devote an ent i re paragraph toth is aspect of h is poetry.b. The language devices employed by Lark in great ly enhance the overa l le ffect of the poem.

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c. The poet chooses not to inc lude a personal statement or the voice of a persona in th is poem. In th is respect, i t might be worthwhi le compar ing and contrast ing ‘The Explos ion’ and ‘MCMXIV’.

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Sample Essay

In Larkin’s poetry close observations of people, place and events result in profound and thought provoking moments. Discuss.

In Larkin”s poetry, detailed and accurate descriptions of people, places and events capture the moment in an uncompromisingly realistic fashion. While his poems can be sneering and contemptuous of people, places and events, there is something else at work in Larkin’s poetry that is difficult to ignore. For all their bleak realism, the poems of Larkin that I have studied lead to profound and thought provoking moments that have challenged some of my most deeply held beliefs.

Larkin’s poems are at their most interesting and thought-provoking when an unexpected event provokes the speaker’s curiosity. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the utterly fascinating poem, “The Whitsun Weddings”. In this poem, the speaker’s close observations of the people and places of England on a “sunlit Saturday” in June, provide the material for a truly memorable piece of writing. The poem opens as Larkin”s train pulls slowly out of the station. The rhythm, syntax and the cadence of the language capture the momentum of the train as it runs “behind the backs of houses”. In the next stanza, detailed descriptions of the bland English suburbs do little to prepare us for the profound epiphany that lies at the heart of this poem. As the wedding couples board the train, the poet at first notices little more than their “whoops and skirls” of delight. There then follows a series of detailed observations of the wedding parties. Larkin describes the “grinning and pomaded, girls | In parodies of fashion”. Although his tone is laced with cynicism, he is also “struck” by the scene that presents itself before him. The next time he leans out “More promptly [...] more curiously”. Once again, Larkin relies on close observations of the wedding parties in order to convey his bemusement to us. He describes the “fathers with broad belts under their suits” and the “mothers load and fat”. The detail, which includes descriptions of “seamy foreheads” and an “uncle shouting smut” is uncompromisingly realistic. However, for all its detailed realism, the poem has, at its heart, a profound and thought-provoking epiphany. As the train gathers speed, Larkin becomes increasingly affected by the incredible “Traveling coincidence” that has joined all these people

Observations

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together on this, one of the most important days in their lives. In the poet”s words, this experience contained:

all the power That being changed can give.

In order to capture this powerful moment of profound realisation, Larkin turns away form the detailed descriptions of the first four stanzas. Instead he relies on a wonderful simile to conclude his poem.

And as the tightened brakes took hold, there swelled A sense of falling, like an arrow-shower Sent out of sight, somewhere becoming rain.

Although Larkin professed himself to be highly sceptical about the idea of enduring love, in this poem there is no denying that he is genuinely struck by the power of the moment.

“An Arundel Tomb” has much in common with “The Whitsun Weddings”. In this poem, detailed observations of a tomb in Chichester Cathedral in England pave the way for thought-provoking conclusions about love, life and death. The poem opens with a detailed depiction of the “earl and countess” as they “lie stone”. Larkin draws our attention to the “jointed armour, stiffened pleat” and the “the little dogs under their feet”. It was only when I saw a photograph of the Arundel Tomb that I realised just how accurate Larkin’s depiction is. As was the case with the wedding parties in “The Whitsun Weddings”, Larkin at first fails to notice the full significance of the scene before him. Then, towards the end of the second stanza his attention is drawn towards the earl’s hand “holding her hand”. This produces a “sharp tender shock” in the poet. The rest of the poem is a meditation on the true meaning that this statue now holds. Larkin forces us to consider the lack of clarity surrounding this tomb and what it has come to symbolise. In particular, he exploits the ambiguity between the two meanings of the verb to “lie”. A sense of futility hovers around the poem’s conclusion in words like “helpless”,”scrap”,”attitude”, “Untruth” and “almost”. The fact that Larkin refuses to dispel the ambiguity that surrounds this poem is most thought-provoking. The detailed descriptions of the two lovers with their hands clasped together suggest a lasting, even timeless, relationship. However, we are never allowed to forget that this couple is dead and that the world they once knew has vanished forever.

The prelude to one of the most shocking and depressing events in European history is highlighted in Larkin’s unforgettable poem MCMXIV. This powerful poem captures the

innocence of a people that would soon be plunged into the most barbaric events in human history. The opening stanza depicts the “long uneven lines |standing as patiently | As if [... oustide] | The oval or Villa park”. In this simple description, Larkin captures the all encompassing nature of the conflict that is come. The wealthy followers of cricket are united with their poorer football supporting counterparts, in their innocent rush to enlist. The poem is full of descriptions of the people and places of a long-since vanished United Kingdom. Images of “shut shops” and “bleached | Established names” are mentioned together with “farthings and sovereigns”. While the depictions capture the innocence of Britain in the immediate lead-up to the outbreak of war, the eerie absence of human activity hints at grim reality of what is to come. The form of poem also helps to reinforce this. The roman numerals along the poem’s shape, recall the countless cenotaphs and war memorials that were erected in the aftermath of this horrific conflict. The poem’s final reminds us that the world would never know “such innocence again”.

Another profoundly thought provoking event captured by Larkin is detailed in his poem “The Explosion”. The poem takes us to a pit head in the coal district of Wales on the day of a fatal explosion. The use of foreshadowing in the opening tercet hints at the fate that awaits the miners. In the next stanza, we meet these men as they come down lane full of life, “Coughing oath-edged talk and pipe-smoke”. One of men who breaks free from the group to chase a rabbit, returns with “a nest of lark’s eggs”. This wonderful symbol of fragility and life is carefully returned unharmed to the grass by this man. Larkin does not describe the circumstances in any detail. Instead he chooses to understate the physical reality of what happened. A “tremor” “at noon” provides us with the only clue that something awful has happened. Then, in the next stanza which is set off in italics in order to highlights its significance, Larkin takes us to the dead men’s funeral service:

The dead go on before us, they Are sitting in God’s house in Comfort, We shall see them face to face -

The final image of the poem is a truly unforgettable one. The men have died yet they return “larger than life” “One showing the eggs unbroken”.

From the pit heads of Wales to the suburban England, Larkin provides us with accurate descriptions of people, places and events. In the process however he causes us to look again at the world around us. While his poems are often equivocal and ambiguous, they nearly always lead us to consider some deeply thought-provoking and profound ideas.