Ambulances by Phillip Larkin

This poem has a very depressing message and it is mainly about death as many of Larkin's poems are. The rhyming pattern is repeated in all of the stanzas which could suggest that death is inevitable also the fact that the rhythm is a heart beat, again highlighting the inevitability of death. sometimes there are half rhymes which are less satisfying than full rhymes, maybe suggesting that life is not overly satisfying. Larkin says 'That lies just under all we do' maybe he is talking about death and this is suggesting that death could come at any time and it could happen to anyone. At the end of the poem we expect the last word to be die as it rhymes with 'by' but instead we get the word 'are' this could be Larkin's way of saying that death is not the end and that there is life beyond death. This is not a view that we would typically expect from Larkin.

Musical Moments 1 and 2

1)This poem appears to be about a young boy trying to escape his piano lessons and his piano teacher 'the upright piano teacher, knocks at the front door the boy's at the back door' this suggests that he is trying to get a way from the teacher he also 'nimbly scales the wall'. the image is created of the boy sitting inside and 'hearing in the park the pointless cries of children' this is suggestive of him being trapped in his house for a piano lesson that he does not want to take part in. The description 'a coffin of music' could possibly be foreshadowing what is to come in the next poem.

2) This poem appears to be about the death of the afore mentioned piano teacher 'Miss Crouch'. Although Abse states 'your going does not touch me deeply' he is obviously affected by her death and I think that he regrets trying to escape from her lessons 'sounding regret and then again regret'.  He also appears to appreciate her now compared to when he was younger 'you were so unassuming and gentle' which is something that he did not realise when he was younger. He almost seems to have a great respect for her now- more than 50 years later, 'yes, you and the piano triumphantly rising between the clouds higher and higher.'. This leaves the reader with a grand and happy image of this old lady, almost as if she is where she belongs, in a better place.

A Winter Visit

This poem is about Larkin's mother towards the end of her life. The fact that it is winter "too cold" could be symbolic of this. He talks bout peacocks and says that "from one pale dot of peacocks sperm, spring forth all the colours of the peacocks tail." this could be referring to the fact that life still remains in his mother and she still has the potential to live a fulfilling life. Also in the poem it says "for i inhabit a white coat, not a black even here" this shows that although Abse will mourn his mother, he will not be sombre because she no longer enjoyed life. This poem reminds me of 'Reference Back' as he also talks of his mother and remembers her life.

The Malham Bird

This poem is clearly reminiscent of the first holiday that Abse and his wife shared together and possibly was written after her death. Throughout the poem a seagull is mentioned 'a love message, as if Dafydd's ghost had sent it' Dafydd could be referring to the famous welsh poet from the middle ages who mainly wrote about love and nature. He could possibly be a hero of Abse's and therefore he could be describing the seagull as a blessing from him. Towards the end of the poem the bird almost becomes less lighthearted. He describes the bird and 'how it took advice, closed it's eyes resolute, when others pecked forbidden fruit'. This could be a symbol for Abse's marriage as it 'stayed' with him and 'the forbidden fruit' could possibly be a metaphor for cheating on your partner and it could be showing that this happened in other people's marriages but not his own. This poem reminds me of many poems by Larkin as it goes into a more psychological meaning towards the end it does not however bring a specific poem to mind as this poem is very personal and not many of Larkin's poems are.

Last Visit to 198 Cathedral Road

I think that this poem is about Dannie Abse visiting the house where his mother and father lived (possibly where he grew up) after they have died. Abse uses the word 'dark' a lot in the poem which sets the mood as being very sombre and it also could signify death. He also uses the word 'freakish' to describe the light covering the room from his torch which suggests that it is abnormal for there to be light in the room as it has been left dark for so long it also appears to disturb the natural way of the room. The 'living room' is also described as the 'dying room' By Abse suggesting  decay and also loss for the poet. It is almost as if Abse is trying to contact or his parents by going back to there home but failing to do so 'not one comforting diminutive sound'.
       This poem reminds me very much so of Reference back by Phillip Larkin as it is also about him remembering his mother and thinking about her however he seems to distance himself from the situation whereas Abse lets the reader know his inner most thoughts.

A Scene From Married Life

I think that this poem is about a particular disagreement within Dannie Abse's marriage and how he feels when he and his wife argue. I think it is different to Larkin's poems because it describes feelings and you are much more involved with Abse's thoughts than when you are reading a poem by Larkin. However this poem does remind me of Talking in bed by Larkin although 'A Scene from Married Life' goes into much more detail than Larkin ever does.

Dannie Abse and His Poetry.

Dannie Abse was born in Cardiff, Wales on 22nd September 1923 to a Jewish family, the younger brother of politician and reformer Leo Abse and eminent psychoanalyst Wilfred Abse. Before becoming a poet Abse was a doctor and studied at the University of Wales College of Medicine, Westminster Hospital Medical School and King's college London. He then went onto become a chest specialist in London.
         Abse published his first poetic volume in 1949 it was called After Every Green Thing. His first autobiographical work was called Ash On a Young Man's sleeve published in 1954. Dannie Abse lived in North West London for many decades and wrote in the local newspaper for Hampstead where he lived. His wife was killed in a car crash in 2005 in which he suffered a broken rib, this tragedy sparked him to write The Presence a memoir of the year after his wife died published in 2007 and a poetry collection called Running Late in 2006.

Dockery and Son by Philip Larkin

I enjoyed reading this poem although the meanings behind it are very depressing and dull but it was interesting to hear another point of view on life from someone who has experienced it and does not conform to society's 'laws'. The poem is about a college friend of Larkin's who's son is now attending the same college, Larkin works out that his friend would only have been about 20 when he had the afore mentioned son. This shocks Larkin and, just like The Whitsun Weddings leads him on to thinking philosophically about life in general. 

         Larkin thinks that many people have children to be 'added to' as he puts it but Larkin believes that having children would decrease his power or 'dilute' him. This could not only mean decreasing his power but also decreasing the amount of time for himself as Larkin seems to believe that all your time is spent with your children once you have had them. Larkin also comments on that fact that he has not conformed to what society expects of you; 'to have no son, no wife, no house or land still seemed quite natural' this comment implies that Larkin is quite happy not having these things and that they were not for him. 

      Larkin also seems to think that the decisions you make shape your life and once you have made them you are unable to go back. 'Those warp tight-shut, like doors' the doors are metaphors for the doors and once you have made that decision, the door is shut forever leaving you unable to backwards. Therefore maybe Larkin believes that children are a mistake.

       However, once again like in 'The Whitsun Weddings' Larkin appears to be able to see the positive side to having children 'embodying for Dockery and son, for me nothing'. Here Larkin seems to be able to see that some people enjoy the experience of having children but for him it would not have the same affect. 

Here by Philip Larkin

This poem appears to me to be about the potential of things if you leave them alone. Larkin describes things that are natural in an attractive way such as ' the piled gold clouds' and the 'shining gull marked mud' however unnatural things he describes in a way which implies that he is almost disgusted by them such as; 'within a terminate and fishy smelling pastoral of ships up streets'. This implies that he is horrified by the way that man has treated the natural world and changed it for his own benefit.
     Towards the end of the poem Larkin describes things that have been left alone 'leaves unnoticed thicken' and 'neglected waters quicken' implying that when things are left untouched by man they flourish and grow and this is being stopped by industrialisation and urbanisation.

The Whitsun Weddings Poem

I enjoyed reading the poem 'The Whitsun Weddings' by Philip Larkin. i felt that the comments made about weddings themselves were very clever such as; 'happy funeral'. This seems to be the perfect way to describe a wedding as it is the death of your life as you know it and everything changes from that point onwards- your youth independence and freedom are gone and for women you must stay at home, have children and look after the house.(not so much now but in the era in which the poem was written).
      Larkin also subtly points out the fact that weddings are all a facade using phrases such as 'nylon gloves' and 'jewellery substitutes'. This implies that weddings are all a show to cover up what marriage really means, in the speaker's eyes marriage is not something great and amazing, in fact he almost seems appalled and repulsed by the very idea of marriage.
        However although Larkin/ the speaker seems to hold these views on marriage he is open minded in realising that marriage can be a great thing, 'out of sight' implies that all marriages have potential but it depends upon what you do with that potential as to how your marriage will turn out.
      The structure of the poem is also interesting as it shows the thought process of Larkin whilst writing this poem, it begins with him looking at the landscape out of the train windows, it then moves onto him noticing the weddings and describing them and finally he takes a more philosophical view on the meaning of marriage incorporated with what he believes about marriage.

First impressions of Larkin's poems

Upon first reading Phillip Larkin's poems I found them quite miserable and sombre. Many of the poems seem to be very critical of what has come to be human nature such as getting married and having a job. Larkin also seems very critical of the way humans have changed the natural landscape, for example; when he talks about factories and industrialisation.