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READ THIS
The poet contemplates a problem which is a common one in the modern world: the breakdown of a
marital relationship. Set in the 1960s when divorce was frowned upon and difficult to achieve, the poet
looks at the emotional silence which often envelopes a long relationship, and the difficulty that this gives
rise to when there is no way out for the couple.
ABOUT THE POET
Philip Arthur Larkin was an English poet and novelist. He was born in Coventry in August 1922 to a father
who was a lover of literature and an ardent supporter of Nazism, attending two Nuremberg rallies during
the mid-1930s.
His father also introduced him at an early age to the works of Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, James Joyce and
D.H. Lawrence, men who would have a profound effect on the young man's poetic development.
He attended Oxford University during the early years of World War II, graduating in English Language and
Literature. He graduated in 1943 and then entered the world of librarianship, becoming the university
librarian at Hull University where he would work for some 30 years. It was during that period that he would
produce the bulk of his poetry.
His work has been described as portraying "a glum accuracy about English emotions, places and
relationships". There would appear to be not much by way of positivity in his poetry. One critic referred
to him as "the saddest heart in the post-war supermarket".
Larkin was by no means a flamboyant man as many poets are. Indeed, he appears to have shunned the
limelight wherever possible. He has also been described as a misogynist.
Larkin received several awards for his work, including the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. He was offered
the position of Poet Laureate in 1984 but he declined the honour.
He died on 2 December 1985 from inoperable throat cancer. He was then just 63 years of age.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
"Nothing shows why
At this unique distance from isolation
It becomes still more difficult to find
Words at once true and kind,
Or not untrue and not unkind."
- What is meant by "this unique distance from isolation"? Would you agree with this
statement? (4)
[Need help?]
The marital relationship is indeed unique. Two people become so close, so intimate. They are together
but at the same time they become isolated from the rest of the world. The distance between them is
minimal.
If then their intimacy falters and they drop into silence, they then become isolated from each other as well.
Sleeping so close together but so isolated. How close are they? How distant have they become?
Something very unique indeed.
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- Rewrite in your own words so that the meaning becomes clear: "It becomes still more difficult to find
| Words at once true and kind". (4)
[Need help?]
What about: "It becomes very difficult indeed to offer words of condolence, words that might help, words
that are both true and kind, words that will alleviate the situation in any way."
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- The poet again uses double negatives. Does "not untrue" mean "true"? Does "not unkind" mean
"kind"? (4)
[Need help?]
Double meanings do not give a positive. If a person says, "I am not not going", he does not mean, "I am
going" but rather that he might or might not go.
To be "not untrue" might therefore mean that there are perhaps elements of truth in it. To be "not unkind"
likewise might mean that there could be elements of kindness in it. Nevertheless, not fully true and not
fully kind.
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- What conclusion is the poet reaching in the final verse? Is he being positive or
negative? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet is not reaching any conclusion, is he? He is simply saying that one can offer no words of advice.
Only the married couple can work things out for themselves.
He is therefore also being neither positive nor negative. He has stated the problem, has said that it is an
age old problem, and he leaves it at that. He leaves it unresolved - because he can see no solution.
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Can you give a description of the STYLE of this short poem? (6)
[Need help?]
The poem consists of twelve lines and broken up into four three-line verses. The rhyming scheme is ABA,
CAC, DCD and EEE.
Can it be said that there is no flow to the verses, or an uneven flow? In other words, the verses and the
thought contained in them are as broken up as is the married couple's relationship? The verses therefore
attempt to mirror the discordant marital situation.
On the other hand, the poem is not a difficult one to read and understand. It does not take an intellectual
giant to make meaning of it. Indeed, it is part of Larkin's style to write poems of easy understanding -
"to recite in the pub," he said.
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What advice is the poet offering in this poem on the breakup of marriage? (4)
[Need help?]
Is the poet offering any advice? It would appear that he is merely stating the fact as he sees it, that there
comes a time in many marriages where the intimacy begins to waver and silence ensues.
In his day, there would follow an excruciating time of unhappiness for both partners because there was
little they could do about it. Divorce was regarded as a disgrace.
Indeed, it was very difficult to get a divorce back in the 1960s unless bizarre lies were told to convince the
judge that a divorce was essential. And if one partner blocked the divorce and refused consent, then that
was usually that: no divorce was possible.
Things have changed rapidly in the past three decades. For good or for bad?
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What advice would YOU give concerning the breakup of marriage? (10)
[Need help?]
This is very much an open question. What advice would you offer to a couple contemplating marriage,
advice which would perhaps save the marriage from eventual destruction?
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The poet has been described as a "misogynist".
- What is a "misogynist"? (2)
[Need help?]
A misogynist is a person who hates or dislikes women.
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- Is this description of the poet revealed in any way this poem? (4)
[Need help?]
I doubt that the poet is offering any views on women at all. He merely looks at marriage itself and at the
problems inherent in this institution. These are genuine problems but the poet also offers no solutions.
And he does not say whether he believes that people should or shouldn't marry. He remains neutral on
the subject - in this poem, at any rate.
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