Talking in bed

Love is an important factor in physical and emotional relationships- the good things that love brings along with bitter ones and disappointment. The sense of broken communication and isolation is well displayed through the structure and form of the poem. Rhyming ABA CAC DCD, and a final tercet rhyming EEE, what portray the absence of continuity and the broken-up nature of the couple's discourse.
As Larkin suggests, “It becomes more difficult to find / Words once true and kind”, it could be difficult for these two people to express verbally how they feel or it could be also possible that they spoke about the relationship, which has hurt them emotionally and they created the isolation, although words kind and true both relate with human language in positive manner. The double negative not + un “Or not untrue and not unkind”  leaves the reader ambiguous feeling of unfulfilled desire. Very similar situation is “At this unique distance from isolation”, suggesting that someone can be distanced from isolation and ironically very close at the same time.

Larkin’s poem “Talking in bed” enables us to relate to possible common experiences in our own lives and provoke us to think about both – the gap between expectations and reality – and irony of love in modern world. However, an irony, one of the dominant features in this poem, gives us the opportunity to create our own perception of love. I think Larkin believed that love is a positive thing, but we all know that reality makes nothing simple and often confront us with painful disappointment.

Dancing at Lughnasa

Irish Catholicism, its rituals and rules and its resonances within the family and as well as the clashes it produces.  
Notes collected
The play is set in a small rural community in the north of Ireland in the early 20h century. The power of the Catholic religion is evident in this small community. There are also certain pagan practices mentioned such as the Festival of Lughnasa where a young boy was burned in a type of ritual. 
Just as the radio is a partly foreign and potentially corrupting influence in the Mundy cottage, so the homecoming of Father 
Jack brings with it alien and challenging ideas and behaviour. Jack, for years a source of great pride as Ballybeg’s ‘own leper priest’, has transgressed his role in Ryanga and ‘gone native’. He has come to accept and even embrace the traditional rituals and way of life which seem to work well for the Ryangan villagers. And within this acceptance is an implicit critique of the Catholic missionary model, an understanding that it would fail to meet the spiritual and emotional needs of the community of lepers. Elsewhere too Friel is interested in the failure of institutional Christianity to be a force for good in the lives of its followers. In Dancing at Lughnasa, Kate comes to reconcile her strict Catholic beliefs with her brother’s behaviour by classifying it as ‘his own distinctive search’. The rest of the community, however, is less forgiving. The local priest, who is also Kate’s employer, sacks her from her job as schoolteacher, ostensibly because of falling class sizes, but in reality as a punishment for Jack’s renegade behaviour. In doing so he plunges the entire Mundy household into deepening poverty.Father Jack’s Ugandan experiences are not the only source of paganism in the play. At Lughnasa time, the back hill locals of Ballybeg practice a ceremony involving dancing, fire, and animal sacrifice, just like Jack’s African rituals. Maire MacNeill’s book The Festival of Lughnasa explores Celtic and pre-Christian harvest rituals and how they continued in 

Ireland into modern times (see page 13 of this pack). While there is no evidence of goat sacrifice in the 20th century – as 

Rose dramatically describes – the practice of large groups gathered to sing and dance on hilltops is well documented. 

Yet in the 1920s and 30s – the early years of the new Irish Free State – even such seemingly innocent and traditionally 

Celtic activities came to be frowned upon by an increasingly conservative church and state, and would not long survive into 

the century. 

Christianity is strongly present in these stories, but sometimes sits alongside or is seen in conflict with traditional Celtic or 

pagan ways. The archive records the final decades of the old way of life in rural Ireland, before technology and industrialisation would 

change things forever.

Red Balloon

The red balloon throughout the poem is a symbol of religion, the non Jews of this poem believe it to be "stained with our dear Lord's blood", but I think that the balloon stands as a symbol for the blood lost in the Jewish race, and the strength it endured as "it would not burst" suggesting it is somewhat unstoppable.
As the persona has this balloon enter his life as it "oddly" landed where he stood, he passed onto it life, but "breathing on it " and "polished" it, thus giving a red that "shone like living blood". This foreshadowing the interpretation of the symbol of the "Lord's blood", but it could also be the persona's blood, as if he brought it to life, it could have his life captured within it.
It attracted attention, the persona's emotions mixed towards the balloon, but with maturity "it ceased to be a toy" thus showing that its not something he can play with, it's something he must treasure and look after. The persona later on starts to refers it as a "precious" where it is now something of great value to him, where it's so important that the persona "to no one dare show it" but in contrast will boast about it.
The ignorance and mockery shown within the conversation between the persona and the 'best friend', degrade the balloon to label of "Jew" with the persona defending the relevance to that. The final stanza shows the attempts to destroy the balloon, "their dirty knives" "lunged" "clawed" at the balloon, but it wouldn't burst. You could relate this to some previous events that have happened in the Jewish history, for example, the holocaust, the Jewish race were discrimated, persecuted against by an entire country, they were killed, tortured in the attempt to wipe the race out, but the outcome of it all? It didn't happen, where the strength of them carried on to live after all they had been through, their "living blood" kept pumping through their race.

Wild Oats

This poem is based upon the only woman Larkin came close to marriage with: his first girlfriend Ruth Bowman. She had a friend called Jane, who is the model for the “bosomy English rose”, while sixteen-year-old Ruth was “her friend in specs I could talk to”.The title ‘Wild Oats’ comes from a common euphemism for sex: an encouragement for boys to go out and ‘saw some wild oats’ – sleep with lots of women before getting serious. During the 1950s, there was still a real dichotomy between males and females: men were encouraged to ‘get out there’, while women were advised to remain chaste.Considering ‘A Study of Reading Habits’ and Larkin, though, this seems a somewhat ironic title: no matter the adolescent fantasies of the persona in ‘A Study’, Larkin doesn’t seem the type to have cast many. Immediately in this poem, the persona is intimidated by the “rose” and “it was the friend I took out”. In the second stanza, he believes he “met beautiful twice” and he is convinced that both times “she was trying” “not to laugh”. It shows again the low self-confidence, unlike the “wild oats”.

The relationship went on for “seven years” and even as far as engagement, “Gave a ten-guinea ring,” but in the end it didn’t last. The persona’s colloquial attitude to the giving is rather dismissive anyway, and the whole poem is tongue-in-cheek. In real life, Larkin was quite cruel to Ruth, and the conclusion is probably what she said of Larkin, “That I was too selfish, withdrawn, / And easily bored to love.” Again, the persona is dismissive and tongue-in-cheek in response to this: “Well, useful to get that learned.”

Though this is a reflection on the past of “about twenty years ago”, the persona still has “two snaps / Of bosomy rose with fur gloves on”. The persona comes to the trivial conclusion, in that he is still single, that they are “unlucky charms”. Yet, as with many of Larkin’s poems, the last word discredits this light-hearted conclusion: “perhaps.” Perhaps those “snaps” are “unlucky charms”, but perhaps there is a much darker, more serious reason for the ‘Mr Bleaney’-like existence.

Self's the Man

In the setting of a lymeric, here used to convey the humerus  tone set within the poem, which is shown in the rhyme scheme, AB CD. 
The poem starts off with -Oh, no one can deny / That Arnold is less selfish than I”. The colloquial “oh” gives a sense of how he brushes it off, and he seems to be boastful of his selfishness. Into the next few lines, he presents a stereotypical image of marriage as entrapment, “married a woman to stop her getting away” and the ironic aside, ‘Now she’s there all day” as though his “less selfish” friend didn't know what he was letting himself into. Notice how he refers to her as a mere “woman” – not a lover, and there seems to be, at least from the persona’s perspective, no love in the relationship.
The hyperbolic language used to describe the 'stereotypical' marriage in the following stanzas, "he has no time at all" suggesting how  the marriage is so consuming,Arnold, has no time to himself, the metaphor of "it's put a screw in this wall" is somewhat what the marriage has done to him. He has been screwed to the wall of marriage, where time, alone, selfishness, cease not to exist, merely hanging around him but unreachable. Here we can get a sense of sympathy from the persona to Arnold, where he then goes onto comparing "his life and mine" makes the persona feel "a swine" (feeling like an unpleasant person", and the realization bestowed upon him that Arnold is "less selfish" than the persona. But continues to justify that marriage is selfish, that "not just pleasing his own friends" suggests that he is pleasing the one he loves, the woman he chose to marry, and surely that is not selfish to say the least. 
But in the final stanza, a conclusion made by the persona, that "he and I are the same" simply meaning that in oth their lives, they made the selfish decision to do what they wanted to get out of life. But the persona knows "what he can stand" meaning that a marriage, children and the commitments to that are not what he could manage. 

Ambulances

A meditation on the closeness of death, its randomness and its inevitability. These three ideas are captured for Larkin in the action of ambulances in the city. Today young people might see ambulances as a sign of hope, a positive intervention sustaining life rather than heralding death. When the poem was written in the 

fifties, to be carried away in an ambulance was a sign of worse to come. Ambulances is, in its totality, a celebration of the values of consciousness. It modestly and devoutly collects evidence of ordinary life to create a truth which can be universally acknowledged. The poem is a depressing one. The very title suggests something saddening. Ambulances drive through a city street, and stop to pick up a critically sick man and take him to a hospital.
 Everybody looks at an ambulance when it is driving through the streets, though an ambulance does not look back at anybody. The sick man has been taken away to a hospital and the sense of loss which the spectators might have experienced would then abruptly come to an end. The man, who has been carried to the hospital by the ambulance, had led a meaningful life which was a mixture of family relationships and an observance of the fashions of the time. But that life has now come to an end and has, in fact, lost all its meaning.


The main idea in this poem is that an ambulance signifies illness, and that it fills the spectators with the thought of death. The first two stanzas of the poem contain vivid and realistic imagery of the ambulances threading their way through the streets of a city possibly at noon-time when there are many loud noises coming from the traffic and from the crowds of people. When an ambulance comes to a stop, women coming from the shops look at the wild white face of the sick man who is being taken away to a hospital. The remaining three stanzas of this poem contain the poet’s reflections and meditations on the sad fate which awaits all of us. The entire life of an individual loses its meaning in the face of his approaching death. What gives to the poem Ambulances its impressive authority is its relentless insistence that “all streets in time are visited,” and its closing assertion that to be taken away by an ambulance “brings closer what is left to come, /And dulls to distance all we are.” 

The first two stanzas of this poem contain vivid and realistic imagery of the ambulances threading their way through the streets of a city possibly at noon-time when there are many loud noises coming from the traffic and from the crowds of people. When an ambulance comes to a stop, women coming from the shops look at the wild white face of the sick man who is being taken away to a hospital. There is a realistic detail about the women coming from the shops, “past smells of different dinners,” meaning that these women have passed several food-shops which were emitting odours of different kinds. The remaining three stanzas of this poem contain the poet’s reflections and meditations on the sad fate which awaits all of us. The entire life of an individual loses its meaning in the face of his approaching death. There is a vivid picture also in the line: “The traffic parts to let go by”. When an ambulance is driving through a street, the people move quickly to one side or the other in order to make way for the ambulance.

At Ogmore-by-sea this August

Me and Alex looked at this poem during the lesson the other day, here was my summery. 

At Ogmore-by-sea this August evening is a poem exploring the ideas of the rhythmic settings of music, show business and a storm.  Personally, I believe the poem is  a personification of a storm commencing, expressed through the highs and lows of music but also the sense of magic in the way that it changes/effects all.

The first stanza begins with the somewhat calmer setting, where it is compared with the “obstinate violin” showing the flowing/softness of the notion of the river, which is introduced through the “estuary”. The “estuary” symbolising the beginning into the journey into the sea, one of which his father potentially embarked upon (could be a symbol of death).  The tone set in this stanza is atmospherically created through the setting of the evening, where it appears to be "darker than the darkening evening" the pathetic fallacy used to create an eary sense to this calming stanza, creating a juxtaposition between the two. A spiritual sense is introduced with the violin and violinist becoming "unified" to a sense of completing one another.

The second stanza's tempo becomes more upbeat, the sense of "such power" creates a build up of an omnipotent spiritual flow throughout each sentence. The power is influenced in the motif of the music, where it "summons the night", tying in with the idea of the "darkening evening". Some would see it as romantic, but looking into the meanings of the poem, it appears to be more of an elegy to Abses own father.  The notion of moving further forward is created with the pronoun "prow", but heading into a "pale familiar" could this be suggesting death again? A pale, being linked to light and some say when you die you 'go to the light', but this isn't the end of this metaphoric journey.

The third stanza is silent, in this one the music has stopped and in the composure of music it could be the scene building up the suspense for the grand finale. It shows how the "tides in" and "no foghorns howl", comparing the horn to a dog when it mourning howl. Our persona, is either here having a spiritual sense to that he can see his father, maybe it's the memory of being in his £favourite place" and the silence of this stanza is reflecting on the silence of death and the afterlife. Abse has a phase of reminiscing about his father, which is somewhat like Larkin does with his own mother.

The final stanza, is the big finale, where the "senseless conjuration" is enhanced throughout it- with the metaphoric use of the verb, the persona continues to "wipe my smile away", as he witnesses "his steleton stands" as this "carnival" "spotlight fails", showing the end of the journey and death. The personified shock of the "lighthouses" conversation, which is in comparison to "of the tumult the sea", which is the loud, confused noise especially cause by a large mass of people, which could also be the sea of souls, that this metaphoric storm has taken with it.

The Malham Bird

The Malham bird of Eden, is a Jewish tale, that is obeyed the commandment not to eat of the forbidden fruit and so lives forever in paradise- meaning that it cannot experience the true values to life and what it has to offer, for example, emotions, children, marriage, friends.
In the first stanza Abse is explaining how his new start to their marriage as a start in the "reinvented" world, suggesting paradise has been bestowed upon the pair in their new life. He compares himself as a "jew" and his wife as a "gentile" who is not a jew.
He starts off the second stanza as "Dear wife" which shows how much he cares by writing to her and showing her how he remembers all the tiny details about their first holiday. The tiniest details such as "the hidden beach" .. "the same seagull that seemed portent" all show that the smallest details have been remembered, which means its a significant memory that he treasures dearly.
The 3rd stanza shows how one minute they're lying together and the metaphor of the "chalk lines kiss" shows the end of their paradise and how it slowly "disappears". This shows how things can change quickly, they're there one minute and then gone the next.
The persona then goes onto reflecting upon the tale of the Malham Bird, and how that the singing" shows that almost the birds are happy with the choice of disobeying the commandment, it is a metaphor of the fact that everyone will make different decisions. The bird here sybolises the fact that it is all about making the right choice : This bird that they have met has followed the rules yet they talk about "all of the birds" singing and making the right choice. The idea of paradise, Abse has tied in with the idea of "immortal" that it can live on forever in the "gardens of Paradise". The motif of death, used somewhat like Larkin, but used with a positive connotation on the fact that there is something to believe in, some form of happiness after death.

Last Visit to 198 Cathedral Road

In this poem we see the persona returning to an old house , somewhere he would've once called home. The persona is reexamining the room, he sat in his fathers arm chair whilst he "hosed" the objects in the room with his "surgeons pocket torch". The second stanza, seems to be brought alive with the poets use of personification, where we see a vase that "yawned hideously", along with "the awakened empty fruit bowl", they all share the same fear of light known as "photophobic". By using personification, the poet could be showing the suggesting that he isn't alone in this room and all the objects have a  personal connection towards him. A sense of "omnipotent" starts off the 3rd stanza,  when the darkness the persona returns too, showing the "room that was out of breath" and that ties in well adjective at the end of the stanza "nothing".

Dannie Abse - A Winter Visit

A Winter Visit is a poem telling the memory of Abse walking with this mother through a local park- We are introduced to pathetic fallacy in the first stanza with the "before it's dark" scene of the night sky, which entails the rest of the poems tone of death.
Abse's mother "aged" and "frail" mother, is compared to the peacock- in this poem the peacock is an emblem of life and spirit. The contrast in the fascination of the fact the peacock's "sperm" can "spring forth all the colours of a peacock's tail" which is a symbol of something so small being able to create something so significant and special, which in a way is similar to his own mother as she is significant and special to Abse, and her life is half way to its end. In the following stanza she explains how "this winter i'm half dead" and Abse dramatizes the difference between his personal life as a soon to be orphaned son, but a doctor who witnesses death day in day out. He knows that his "white coat" does not even make him "qualified to weep".
In the final stanza, the flamingos, distracting Abse away from the harsh reality of death, looks at how their "heads beneath wings" which could symbolise their hiding away the he cold weather, hiding away from reality, to which Abse's wishes he could do too.

Dockery and Son

Dockery and Son is a poem which explores the memories brought back by an old school friend, but with them, the unfocused attention set upon the passing of years and the value he has given his life. 
The poem explores the theme of Larkin with his obvious lack of offspring, but does the impression he gives about Dockery and his son, make it seem that Larkin wishes to have that life or is glad he does not To Larkin (or the persona) the perspective on children is seen as a "dilution" showing that it just makes us weaker- and carrying on into his philosophical shift of questioning the true meanings to where the "innate assumptions" for a child come from? Psychologically speaking, they're adapted through behavioral methods that we are brought up with, which could simply reflect upon a bad childhood experience Larkin had which has lead to this un-wanting attitude for offspring. 
    The epiphany Larkin has throughout his poem are of the facts that, life goes quickly, chances you make determine your life, and you can't go back on life choices, all of which point the the question of "what is it all for?" The unclear choices somewhat like "sand-clouds" to which are "thick and close" all point towards the "end of age", which in Dockery and Son represents death. Death of if you believe in heaven, hell or redemption, then your choices will have a purpose if not, then Larkin/ Persona is trying to contemplate the very reason to why you would have children, if it were to please you in the afterlife or the present life.
    The enjambment in the poem suggests a sense of continuity and flow. A life lived without significant hallmarks(wife,child), which resulted in the persona feeling empty with a hint of regret. The poem is a critical poem, Larkin does not find his lack of a son alarming-it simply leads him to the conclusion that life changing decisions emerge from mindless, thoughtless styles-"which something hidden from us chose".