Discuss how far you agree that larkins poetry is distinguished by the clarity and precision of its language

Proceeding Larkin The call for poetry that was overtly emotional, that was not afraid to be prophetic, that dealt with the eternal questions-this was the common ground of the poets whowere given the name romantic in the forties: Dylan Thomas, George Barker, David Gascoyne, T.S Eliot etc...1 Poets in the forties, directly before Larkin, often began much like Larkins poetry, however; they then progressed towards transcendence, often through dense, sensitive and oblique imagery and metaphors. Whereas the mature Larkin style we admire (which is first seen in The less deceived)embraces a more simplistic and direct approach to poetry. Larkin was able to distinguish his poetry in this way through the clarity and precision of his language making his poetry simple, accessible and usually with the least ambiguity possible. By moving away from this oblique, sometimes evasive, poetry of imagism (as we saw in Yeats and Eliots poems) to embrace a poetry of direct statement, through the use of his succinct and clear language, Larkin finds and establishes a unique way in conveying his tone and subject matter. One of the ways this is achieved is through the input of demotic phrases in his poems. Poetry of departures is an example of this, where the common phrase He chucked up everything/ And just cleared off is there quite naturally and not satirically. The fact that this cited phrase does not stand out is very shrewdly attained: the language is full of monosyllabic everyday words, imitating the dullness of the type of conversation and life within the poem, the good books, the good bed, And my life in perfect order. The visual imagery here is bare, describing an almost clich, fictional image of a common mans room, emphasising the boredom Larkin feels engulfs his sober and industrious life. At first he wishes to make the Elemental move and escape this dull life he is trapped in, much like Larkin manages to break [free] from the oversweet exhibition of sensitivity which is so much the mainstream of contemporary English poetry2 by utilising a vocabulary and points of cultural reference which does the opposite, as we have seen with the plain imagery. However, later in the poem he changes his view on escape with sarcasm: yes swagger the nutstrewn roads, crouch in the focsle. This is achieved with colloquialism: The colloquial term swagger has connotations of something unrespectable and ignorant; the word choice is so precise, he does not need to expand on what he thinks of the losels, loblolly-men and louts we see in Toads. The range of vowels here precisely acknowledges the range of conmen that survive on their wits. Throughout Toads there is an extremely important balance: the balance of the positive and negative tones of work weaved together, and the balance of the language itself clearly emphasises the nature of the compromise, which answers the humorously posed question at the beginning: why should we let the toad work squat on our lives? An example of this balance is the coarse stuff your pension with a literary reference from Shakespeares famous line in Othello, thats the stuff that dreams are made on. There is work and escape from work (leisure and freedom; reality and dreams), and in an ironic reversal of the question, Larkin is direct and honest with his final statement: its hard to lose either, When you have both. As work and play balance each other- in the absence of one the other cannot be fully appreciated. The clarity here is overwhelming, Larkin has moved away from the transcendence of mainstream poetry to distinguish himself as a clear and direct poet in his language and meaning.

Larkins language is so precise that even sound and structural techniques are used to supplement the language, whilst simultaneously exploring the themes and meanings within the poems with added clarity. The gracefully constructed rhyme scheme in Born Yesterday employs half-rhymes such as, bud and would, and balance and talents, adding to the casual effect of the poem. This not only work establish Larkins trademark tone, it also ties in with the theme - the rejection of the conventional feelings and opinions towards new-borns, such as the fairy godmother-type gifts About being beautiful, or running off a spring of innocence and love. We can see this as his rejection of modern poetrys conventional requirements such as extended metaphor, strings of similes, and other rhetorical elaborations, he is direct and honest, wishing the new-born a dull life with no extreme expectations if that is what catching of happiness is called, we see that Larkin is truly an uncommon poet for the common man3. The poem Wires describes young and old cattle that are held captive in electric fences. Young steers become old cattle from the day they blunder up against the wires and feel its muscle shredding violence. Larkins simple animal imagery comes with an accompanying analogy with humanity; when we are young we are free to do as we wish as we have not yet set up any fences of our own to restrict ourselves from purer waters. Larkin reinforces this idea with the two stanzas that are symmetrically identical in form, imitating the fences we set up and hence stopping us from reaching our higher potential, the inverted rhyme scheme between stanzas paints a more precise image of constraint also. Wants is another poem that reinforces Larkins theme of entrapment in ones life and his need to escape from the dark invitation cards that society imposes on him. The unrhymed lines reflect the tedium and futility, the feeling that his lifetime passes unused, by trying to escape (as we saw in Poetry of Departures), and the anaphora of However in the first stanza suggests languor and idleness. Each stanza is fenced by simple statements which act as topic sentences for the stanzas: Beyond it all, the wish to be alone and Beneath it all, desire of oblivion runs. The enclosed structure here can be viewed in a bigger picture of Larkins poetry itself: his resistance to biographical curiosity4, everything we need to know is in the poem itself, perhaps this is why he ordered the destruction of his diaries after his death. We can see that formality is often sacrificed for clarity with Larkin, and this is achieved through his colloquial and often simplistic vocabulary. The dirty, sexual nature of Larkins observations on the modern world: of casual fucking between a couple of kids, is a dire concern. The use of the very vulgar and colloquial term fucking, to describe sexual intercourse, not only grabs the readers attention but concisely conveys Larkins disapproving view without having to explain it further. High Windows infers that the new paradise for the younger generation is in sex protected by taking pills or wearing a diaphragm, it makes casual sex acceptable. However, Larkin sees them as going down the long slide to happiness. This could mean that the children are going away from the high windows, goals with high standards, and the view out to God, and are unknowingly making their way down into hell; however, not being a highly metaphysical man, it is more likely that Larkin sees it as a downwards spiral of people, going past indolence and sloth, to chaos. All the old traditions have been pushed to one side like an out-dated combine harvester, and the sweating and hard work is replaced by a materialistic desire. The two annotations of the poem serve as proof of Larkins theme of age and entrapment in Wires: we do not have to be trapped and forced into one interpretation we can be free to explore our own ideas and feelings. It is clear to us now, that Larkin is a poet who departs from the canons that characterize, perhaps stigmatize, many modern and post-modern poets6, through the use of the clarity and precision of

his language. Simple images, direct statements and sound, structural and language techniques not only make Larkins themes easier and more understandable, they also add humour and wit to his poems. We often see how his themes have deeper meanings that we can bring into our lives, all this stems from the clarity and precision of his language that distinguishes Larkin amongst other poets. Word count: 1373 Bibliography: Philliplarkinsociety.com W S Graham, 1950 Lolette Kuby style and language, 191A, pp 19-42 Anthony, B. (1992). Without Metaphysics: the poetry of Philip larkin Bahaa-Eddin M. Mazid Brodies notes Philip Larkin: His Lifes Work- Janice Rossen