Well, here I go again – attempting to write about poetry… But I can’t not in this case, as it’s one of my favourite poets – Philip Larkin – and although I have a chunky Collected edition of his works, I was moved to pick up a slim volume, “High Windows”, in the charity shop recently. And having a skinny book of verse most definitely fires the poetry reading part of the soul more than a big edition does!
I’m hoping that Larkin doesn’t need any introduction here on the Ramblings; I’ve written about him regularly, and he could be described as the best Poet Laureate this country never had. I first read his poems back in my Grammar School years, and carried his “If, my darling” round in my heart for decades. On the basis of his novel “A Girl in Winter” he was no mean prose writer too, and his rather lugubrious poetry (and delivery of it!) is a huge favourite of mine. I’m not sure quite what impelled me to pick this up now (unless it was as a reaction to my recent reading along of the dense “Berlin Alexanderplatz”), but there you go!
“High Windows” was the last collection of new works released by Larkin in his lifetime; it was issued in 1974 and Larkin died in 1985. But for a book released so late in his career, a career in which he’d already attained a high profile, it contains a remarkable number of well-known titles. His most notorious is perhaps “This Be The Verse” which opens with the unforgettable line “They f*** you up your mum and dad” and goes on to opine that there’s not much point in carrying on the human race! Then there’s “Annus Mirabilis”, where the ageing poet laments the fact that he was born too late for the sexual revolution of the 1960s, instead having to live through times when sex had to be bargained for through marriage.
The poems are often bitter, the words of an ageing man trying (and usually failing) to come to terms with the increasing frailties of the body. However, his range is not narrow and a poem like “Going, Going” sees Larkin addressing in a prescient manner the mess we’re making of the our beautiful planet:
Things are tougher than we are, just
As earth will always respond
However we mess it about;
Chuck filth in the sea, if you must:
The tides will be clean beyond.
-But what do I feel now? Doubt?…. For the first time I feel somehow
That it isn’t going to last…
Inevitably, however, the poems turn on death and decay; but despite the subject matter perhaps being gloomy, these are profound, moving and very human verses and I found myself seduced all over again by Larkin’s writing.
At death, you break up: the bits that were you
Start speeding away from each other forever
With no one to see. It’s only oblivion, true…
And despite his grumpiness, he often shows compassion and a kind of empathy for his fellow man; the last poem in the collection, “The Explosion”, is a powerfully resonant piece of work about a mining disaster and lingers in mind.
Basically, I love Larkin and I think his poetry is just *so* good. He writes about the ordinary, the domestic, the daily lives and struggles of human beings in a way that gets to the nub of things. I may be no expert on poetry, but I know what I like and relate to – and Philip Larkin will always be in my top ten; it’s not hard to see from this collection why he’s such a well beloved poet! 😀
JacquiWine
Dec 03, 2019 @ 07:23:00
Like you, I loved Larkin’s A Girl in Winter, but I haven’t read nearly enough of his poetry to know how it compares. This sounds like a lovely charity-shop find, and the focus on the day -to-day in Larkin’s poetry definitely appeals – a sense of seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary, I guess.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 03, 2019 @ 10:02:51
He certainly is a poet of the everyday but he makes you see things with fresh eyes. And although he’s not always a positive poet I do love his viewpoint!
heavenali
Dec 03, 2019 @ 07:41:29
I loved Larkin’s two novels, A Girl in Winter being my favourite of the two. I haven’t read much of his poetry, mainly encountering pieces in anthologies. I agree with you about large volumes of poetry being slightly off putting. I have two very slight Persephone poetry books I have been meaning to get to, your enthusiasm for poetry and Larkin has inspired me to read more myself.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 03, 2019 @ 10:02:06
He certainly could write! I wonder which Persephone poetry books you have – I read It’s Hard to be Hip Over Thirty from the library and loved it!
heavenali
Dec 03, 2019 @ 10:06:05
Yes, I have It’s Hard to be Hip Over Thirty and Consider the Years by Virginia Graham.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 03, 2019 @ 10:06:58
Oooh, I’ve not read the Graham – look forward to your thoughts! 😀
Tredynas Days
Dec 03, 2019 @ 08:49:35
I’ve not read his novels, but do like the poetry – in small doses. All that gloom
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 03, 2019 @ 10:01:13
Yes, he *is* gloriously downbeat – I think that mindset often chimes in with mine when it comes to poetry!
Liz Dexter
Dec 03, 2019 @ 11:40:27
Wonderful, I love his two novels but haven’t read his poetry properly since my late teens!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 03, 2019 @ 13:51:25
Time for a revisit, maybe! I do love his poetry and I’ve got my fingers crossed for the Clive James book on Larkin for Crimbo…. 😉
ellenandjim
Dec 03, 2019 @ 12:26:57
I agree, together with Clive James, Larkin’s poetry is one of the finest body of poetry from English male writers. Do you know Carolyn Forche? A female voice in this vein; also Adrienne Rich, American writers.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 03, 2019 @ 13:47:16
Most definitely! I have explored a little Rich and have a wonderful chunky collection of her work. Forche is a new author to me so I shall check her out – thank you! 😀
Silvia
Dec 03, 2019 @ 14:09:52
The samples were enticing. I need to take note of this poet. I’m going to see if my library has any of his books.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 03, 2019 @ 14:36:47
I hope so – I love his work, one of my all time favourite poets! 😀
Silvia
Dec 03, 2019 @ 14:18:13
I just put a book of his complete poems on hold. Yay.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 03, 2019 @ 14:36:55
Hurrah! Happy reading! 😀
Melissa Beck
Dec 03, 2019 @ 16:06:15
I have a copy of his complete poems I bought a while back. I keep.it on my nightstand and dip into it often!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 03, 2019 @ 19:10:53
He’s very dippable – one of my favourite poets! 😀
Annabel (AnnaBookBel)
Dec 03, 2019 @ 18:23:06
I’m reading Clive James’ last book – a collection of his writing on Larkin over the years and will spur me on to read more Larkin for sure, I’ve only read High Windows so far.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 03, 2019 @ 19:08:13
I’m *so* hoping that James book comes my way soon – I love Larkin! 😀
juliana brina
Dec 04, 2019 @ 17:06:33
I love Larkin’s poems, but never tried his prose (I have a copy of Jill on my shelves…). And I loved the samples you chose from his poems 🙂
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 04, 2019 @ 20:45:10
His prose is definitely worth reading – I loved A Girl in Winter! And his poetry is so dippable and quotable! 😀
MarinaSofia
Dec 04, 2019 @ 21:00:42
Catching up with blog posts and happy to see your love of poetry. I do like a bit of Larkin here and there, he is a curmudgeonly grump with a flash of irony, never taking himself too seriously, which I quite like. I think Simon Armitage is one of the closest to that vein in the present-day.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 04, 2019 @ 21:07:09
Very drawn to both poetry and essays at the moment, oddly. But yes – grumpy and a little tongue in cheek, I think, for Larking – I do love his poetry, and Armitage too. I wish he’d come and read at my local library! 😀
1streading
Dec 07, 2019 @ 17:26:01
Do you find Larkin a very English poet? Unlike some English (or western) poets, he seems to recognise his experience is local and is therefore able to transform it into the universal rather than just assuming it is universal. Whatever the case, he was a wonderful craftsman.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 07, 2019 @ 19:03:12
I think he’s very English superficially – in the trappings of his verse, so to speak. But he certainly manages to create something which does translate universally because he ends up speaking about the human condition, really. Yes – a wonderful poet.
2019 in books – *why* do I find it hard to pick favourites?? :D | Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings
Dec 31, 2019 @ 07:53:33
“….readability is intelligence.” #somewherebecomingrain #philiplarkin | Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings
Jan 20, 2020 @ 06:21:38
Somewhere Becoming Rain by Clive James | Shiny New Books
Feb 06, 2020 @ 07:54:11
Somewhere Becoming Rain: Collected Writings on Philip Larkin by Clive James – Shiny New Books
Apr 18, 2020 @ 11:06:22