The Poetry of Philip Larkin

An introduction to Philip Larkin's poetry directed primarily towards American readers is given. In view of reactions to Larkin in America, it is suggested that American reviews & accounts of his work have not fully recognized his qualities as a poet. Reasons for this may be due to the different poetic climates of England & America. Four published volumes of Larkin's poetry are then considered: The North Ship (1945), The Less Decieved (55), The Whitsun Weddings (1964) & High Windows (1974). The Yeatsian & relatively derivative quality of The North Ship is described & it is suggested that the best way to begin reading Larkin is with The Whitsun Weddings. Larkin's feeling for common human experience & his fine artistry in awakening a new sense of it are discussed. Particular poems, notably "Lines on a Young Lady's Photography Album" & "At Grass" (in The Less Deceived), & "The Whitsun Weddings," are offered as examples of his poetic strength & considered in some detail. The relative superiority of The Whitsun Weddings volume to the previous one is suggested by pointing to the poet's greater self-awareness. The familiar disgruntled personae of Larkin's poems have perhaps been overemphasized by some critics. The are shown to be essential to Larkin, but not to preclude a wider feeling for life--the relation between the poet & his speaker is often a complex one. The last volume, High Windows, is seen as continuing & extending many of Larkin's poetic pre-occupations. Many of the poems are darker & more pessimistic, but in others the poet achieves a new sense of lyricism & imaginative freedom. The criticism that Larkin's humanism denies the impression he receives from the life of Nature is implicitly questioned here, as in the discussion of "At Grass." Larkin's admiration of poetic honesty, & the honesty in the poems towards different sides of his experience, are seen as a central strength, involving a deepening sense of himself & an extension of his awareness of other lives. His poetry is seen as speaking simply, but profoundly--his fine technical accomplishment as the means of giving a distinctive voice to universal subjects. AA