Having recently reread a fair amount of larkins poetry, including the three major volumes published during his lifetime the less deceived, the whitsun weddings, and high windows, i was curious to see which poems made it into amiss selection. Half a century after his seminal collection, the whitsun weddings, was. The whitsun weddings literature essays are academic essays for citation. The day is a whitsun day on which the british government frees marriage taxes for one day. A collection of poems from a tenderly observant poet who writes about what all of us can understand. The title refers to the british tradition of marrying on the weekend of whitsunday or pentecost the. Explore how larkin presents mortality in this poem. The poem, describing a journey from hull to london on the whitsun weekend and the wedding parties that larkin sees climbing aboard the train at each station, is one of larkin s longest great poems and one of his most popular.
It was the train journey that inspired one of philip larkins bestknown poems. The whitsun weddings by larkin philip and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. The poem on the surface level is a description of these. An analytical study of some of the poems of philip larkin based on. The whitsun weddings is the first poem by philip larkin in his collection of that name i have been reading clive james poetry notebook and this is one of his five favourite poetry collections the others being richard wilbur poems 19431956, w. I was born in hull, and made the journey from paragon station to kings cross many times as.
Philip larkin is a major british poet and typical representative of a new movement in english poetry. Larkin through his simple, yet elegant style divulges the details of a commonplace journey into a beautiful poem. It was first published by faber in the united kingdom on 28 february 1964. Amis knew larkin, insofar as anyone could have known him, and his introduction to the collection has the distinct pleasure of being close to its subject. Explore the ways in which duffy portrays religion in.
Philip larkin was what was known as a poet of the movement. The whitsun weddings by philip larkin poetry foundation. In the less deceived, larkin had learned to deal with deeply. An excellent collection of philip larkins poetry selected by martin amis. Contrast the comical narrators mentioned above with those who narrate poems such as the. Publication date 1964 publisher new york, random house. Philip larkin was born in coventry in 1922 and was educated at king henry viii school, coventry, and st johns college, oxford. It depicts a train journey a travelling coincidence between hull and kings cross that ive made many times. It was written and rewritten and finally published in the 1964 collection of poems, also called the whitsun weddings. The whitsun weddings is a deceptively leisurely sounding poem in eight tenline stanzas.
An analysis of misogynistic tone the women and girls at the stations cynical or romanticised. The whitsun weddings, his first volume with faber and faber, was published in 1964. Three of his poems, including the whitsun weddings, appear in the nations favourite poems bbc, 1996, an. Each poem in philip larkins the whitsun weddings is considered and contextual details are explained in reference to the text. It is factually based, describing a rail journey from larkins adopted city, hull, to london. Famous poems like church going and the whitsun weddings, for instance. Philip larkin philip larkin was born in 1922 august 9 in the place coventry. A united states edition appeared some seven months later. It would be not too much to claim that it is one of the best poems written so far in this century, says galvin ewart of philip larkins whitsun weddings. Buy the whitsun weddings main by philip larkin isbn. Like a helicopter cameraman, he shows us the scenery, moving toward a large town hull in yorkshire where he lived.
Man is subject to be influenced by time before moving to the other side of life. Within the whitsun weddings, philip larkin presents the reader with an unsentimental depiction of life in postworld war ii britain. Analysis of philip larkins dockery and son english. The whitsun weddings, the titlepiece of philip larkins finest collection of poems, is 50 this year and today, at 12. Larkin was preoccupied with the idea of the flux of time and the transience of life. Tes global ltd is registered in england company no 02017289 with its registered office at 26 red lion square london wc1r 4hq. The shift from a mostlyrural to a mostlyurban economy was also something that larkin touched upon, as well as the idea of. A summary of a classic larkin poem the whitsun weddings is the title poem in philip larkin s 1964 volume of poems. It notes that the syntax of the poem stopped or paused at the end of each stanza but runs over the stanza. For further discussion, i also include the full text of this is be the verse, which is funny and sarcastic. Larkin catalogues its consumers grim headscarfed wives and commerce electric mixers, toasters, washers, driers in one long, critical sentence of 25 lines.
The whitsun weddings by philip larkin teaching resources. Buy the whitsun weddings by philip larkin from waterstones today. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of philip larkin s poems. Philip larkin describes his stoppingtrain journey through east yorkshire from paragon station, kingston upon hull to kings cross, london on a hot and humid whitsun saturday afternoon in the late 1950s. Here here is the opening poem of the whitsun weddings. Larkins whitsun weddings celebrated with 50thanniversary. Did my threequartersempty train pull out, all windows down, all cushions hot, all sense. It opens with larkin in typically dismal form, late getting away. Larkin, with his in the best sense provincial eye, and his unparalleled ear, is the supreme writer of postwar england. It was larkins fourth published poetry collection and is generally viewed as his second mature poetic work, the first being the less deceived 1955. This website and its content is subject to our terms and conditions. The whitsun weddings for alevel english lit including revision notes, revision guides and question banks. The whitsun weddings philip larkin analysis my word.
The article offers poetry criticism of the poem the whitsun weddings, by philip larkin. Though this poem is about weddings, its mood is less than celebratory, and the approach is a realistic and impersonal at a cultural phenomenon of a popular wedding weekend. The larkin reader can go to these places and experience for himself what inspired the poet. A short analysis of philip larkins the whitsun weddings. Writing styles, fiction and nonfiction reading skills. The whitsun weddings is one of the best known poems by british poet philip larkin. It has always been supposed the poem was based on an actual train journey larkin made in 1955 on whitsun saturday, a day which was popular for weddings at that time though since there was a rail strike on that weekend larkin scholar john osborne now thinks the journey an unlikely one to have taken place. The whitsun weddings was written by british poet philip larkin and first published in his collection the whitsun weddings in 1963. Explore the presentation of music in on the road and the whitsun weddings. The success of the less deceived it was mentioned in the times on 22 december 1955 in its books of the year roundup and his association, in critics minds at least, with the movement were mixed blessings for larkin. The whitsun weddings by philip larkin famous poems. The major publications of larkin are the northship, the less deceived, the whitsun weddings and high windows. He expresses his opinions on these themes with the use of certain language features that help set a mood for the poem.
About the poem larkin describes a stoppingtrain journey southwards from paragon station, kingston upon hull, where larkin was a librarian at the university, on a hot whitsun saturday afternoon. He thought of time, in many of his poems, to be the bitterest enemy of man. I had, alongside the poem, the longman critical essays in which john saunders takes a look at beauty and truth in three poems from the whitsun weddings. The whitsun weddings by philip larkin 1,798 ratings, 4. Whitsun weddings english language and literature pages. Hull is on the north bank of the humber and is the scene of the fish docks. The complete poems of philip larkin literary theory and criticism. It is one of three poems that larkin wrote about train journeys. The poem the whitsun weddings by philip larkin is about the poets journey to london in a train. Audens the night mail passing through many locations.
In its harmony of change and loss played against the melody of the poems wedding narrative, the whitsun weddings 1958 shows this contradiction to great effect. Analysis for the whitsun weddings by philip larkin. The whitsun weddings, the title poem of a collection published in 1964, has regularly been voted one of the nations favourites. Considered by many to be his most sophisticated collection, it contributed. Whitsun weddings by philip larkin and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Martin amis writes that larkin is britains bestloved poet since world war ii. Larkin through his simple, yet elegant style divulges the details of a.
Eduqas english literature friendly analysis of larkins frail travelling coincidence. The whitsun weddings by philip larkin is one of the great poetry collections of the last century, from a writer absolutely peerless in capturing and evoking his native england and its people. The poem comprises eight stanzas of ten lines, making it one of his longest poems. Larkin was a preeminent literary figure within the movement, and the whitsun weddings is a collection that is characteristically cynical towards the consumer culture of harold macmillans britain. In a study of reading habits and afternoons, larkin explains how growing up inevitably provokes a. This idea appears clearly in his volume the whitsun weddings 1964. The poems are not analysed but the contextual issues are highlighted helping students gain ao3 marks. Philip larkin special train marks 50th birthday of whitsun. His poetry and poems, such as the whitsun weddings, was written in such a way that it reflected the lack of importance of britain in a postwar world, and also echoed the changes that britain was going through.
A 36 page revision booklet designed to help students prepare for as english literature. Notable works include the whitsun weddings 1964, high windows 1974etc. Mr hennemans free worksheets, study guides, essay writing, revision guidance and youtube links. Some seven years ago i was intrigued by an arundel tomb. Whitsun weddings i think there were tax reasons for so many marriages at a particular time of year theres romance for you.
Journeys end for philip larkins masterful whitsun weddings. Published by faber and faber in britain and random house in america in 1964, the whitsun weddings marks larkins ascension to both editorial prestige and critical renown. Therefore the day fascinates people belonging to the lower economic class because they cannot afford the payment of marriage taxes on other days. Philip larkins the whitsun weddings is testament to a lost england. Presence of failure and disappointment in the whitsun weddings. The whitsun weddings had a long gestation, being first broadcast on the bbcs third programme in april 1959 and later appearing in larkins 1964 collection of the same name. From the whitsun weddings the line we ran behind the backs of houses, crossed a street of blinding windscreens has long fascinated me. What links here related changes upload file special pages permanent link page. Philip larkin the whitsun weddings revision booklet. The couples described would have married at whitsun because there was a bank holiday, meaning that they could have a brief honeymoon even if an employer would not allow time off. In his poem guide, joshua weiner refers to larkin as was britains poet laureate of disappointment. Brief interpretations new scool, the revision website.
Whitsun, or whit sunday, is the seventh sunday after easter pentecost, deep into spring, when people often marry. The whitsun weddings faber reread ambulances on page 31. Today is whitsun so what better way to celebrate than philip larkins beautiful poem, the whitsun weddings in the poem philip larkin describes his stoppingtrain journey through east yorkshire from paragon station, kingston upon hull to kings cross, london on a hot and humid whitsun saturday afternoon in 1955. The author notes that the opening is conversational yet rhythmically firm and the rhyming stanza structure of the poem is a kind of shortened sonnet. Although philip larkin turned down the office of britains poet laureate following the death of john betjeman in 1984 it ended up going to ted hughes, larkin had already inherited betjemans cultural place in britain and was one of the countrys most popular poets. From the whitsun weddings there are so many larkin poems i could nominate but the whitsun weddings is very special to me. It was a commercial success, by the standards of poetry publication, with the first 4,000 copies being sold within two months. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. As well as his volumes of poems, which include the whitsun weddings and high windows, he wrote two novels, jill and a girl in winter, and two books of collected journalism. In his anthology, the whitsun weddings, larkin develops several themes, such as the concepts of identity, belonging etc. This faber modern classics edition includes a foreword by alan johnson mp. The whitsun weddings is a collection of 32 poems by philip larkin. The whitsun weddings by larkin philip, first edition.
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