The poem is split into three octaves (eight line stanzas). This may illustrate that Larkin feels no emotion toward the matter because an octave is supposed to be factual rather than emotional. This shows that the cynical eye of the outsiders view (much alike Larkin's view) is very negative towards parenthood and bearing and looking after any child in gerneral. This video was very helpful thank you! just found your channel and will be coming back to revise most of the poems!
This analysis is perfect! You have covered every topic, sub topic and much more! I’ll definitely recommend your videos to others! Thank you so muchhhhh!!!
Thank you very much for this analysis. Analysing poems is, I would argue, a largely subjective activity. My own reflections on 'Afternoons' is that Larkin is an outsider here, looking in to these people's lives and making his own, necessarily subjective, observations and extrapolations. However, I felt that you overplayed how much his views, personal life and cynicism played in to this particular poem. For me, he is using the scene he portrays as a metaphor for the lives of the majority of us ("quiet desperation"), the unstoppable nature of time and the frequent reminders (in this case the children) of aging. He can be very acidic, dismissive and even snobbish of course, but in this poem I detect more melancholy than cynicism. But that's just MY take of course :-). I'm looking forward to catching up with more of your analyses ; they provide first class food for thought. Thanks again!
You're very welcome! I agree that poetry analysis is massively subjective (hence my open invitation to anyone who may wish to share their interpretations!), as are Larkin's observations and extrapolations, as you pointed out! I appreciate your comment about my application of Larkin's views, etc. Sometimes I take a line of argument and run with it, but that's possibly because I'm discussing these poems from an educative viewpoint: being a little heavy handed with context will enable all students to benefit from the video, whereas if I were to be more subtle, this could be somewhat exclusionary! Thanks to you once again for your comments and feedback. I'm thrilled that you're enjoying my videos! :)
“Unripe acorns” suggests we will only ever find the same disappointing paths and people in life, and so this monotonous life cycle will carry on through future generations, ending the poem on a sense of hopelessness. Their children being “so intent” on finding more “unripe acorns” suggest they will make the same mistakes as their parents as they still have a romanticised view of love and life in their youth, and know no other way of life, as working class people were still very limited in the 50s. It also creates an image of childlike innocence, similar to the innocence their parents once possessed, which perhaps lead them into the monotony of married life. The women’s beauty having “thickened” also adds to their sense of hopelessness as a woman’s only asset at this time was beauty. Women’s bodies often “thicken” after childbirth, further vilifying married life and motherhood. However, as it is an observational poem, Larkin may be commenting that this is only what it looks like to the outsider, which may be why he uses something superficial to criticise the mothers. After all, the poem is sectioned into 3 octaves, which are supposed to be factual, presenting his lack of emotional connection to working class mothers
Some lovely analysis here - I think you've done a great job of interweaving language analysis and context. Your analysis of poetic form there at the end was especially convincing - good job!!
Hi! I noticed that there are 8 lines in each stanza, and was wondering if this could reflect how Larkin was homeschooled until he was 8 years old? I may be thinking too deep into it though… Thanks for another great lesson!
Great spot! I think this time you might be looking into it a bit too deeply, though - I think if there were more references to education in the poem (and more specifically on home schooling), you could make a comment, but here I think he's just using 8-line stanzas (or octets), which are pretty standard stuff in poetry!
Should anyone wonder, it did strike me that part of the reason for an emphasis on social control and the imagery used may have been because of the impact of the Moors Murders (1965) on British society but it is listed as written in 1959. So the poem is more likely to be about the general themes that are outlined in the analysis.
I'm not sure about rounded, necessarily, but 'A Wife in London', 'Sonnet 43', and the personification of England in 'The Soldier' jump out to me as poems that could be compared to 'Afternoons' with gender in mind. Possibly 'The Manhunt' too!
I'm glad you found the video helpful. I can't make any promises about getting videos made for those poems, I'm afraid. I've committed to two large series already, which will take months and months for me to make!
The poem is split into three octaves (eight line stanzas). This may illustrate that Larkin feels no emotion toward the matter because an octave is supposed to be factual rather than emotional. This shows that the cynical eye of the outsiders view (much alike Larkin's view) is very negative towards parenthood and bearing and looking after any child in gerneral. This video was very helpful thank you! just found your channel and will be coming back to revise most of the poems!
Some very interesting analysis there! I'm glad you've found the video useful - the remaining anthology poems should be up by the end of the month :)
This is fab! Thanks for making it. It certainly helped me a lot.
Thank you for your kind words - I hope the rest of the series is equally as useful! :)
This analysis is perfect! You have covered every topic, sub topic and much more! I’ll definitely recommend your videos to others! Thank you so muchhhhh!!!
Thank YOU so much for your lovely comment 😊
I love this analysis! you covered almost all aspects.
Thank you! I'm glad you've found it useful - please do share with your friends and classmates and teacher(s)! 😊
Thank you very much for this analysis. Analysing poems is, I would argue, a largely subjective activity. My own reflections on 'Afternoons' is that Larkin is an outsider here, looking in to these people's lives and making his own, necessarily subjective, observations and extrapolations. However, I felt that you overplayed how much his views, personal life and cynicism played in to this particular poem. For me, he is using the scene he portrays as a metaphor for the lives of the majority of us ("quiet desperation"), the unstoppable nature of time and the frequent reminders (in this case the children) of aging. He can be very acidic, dismissive and even snobbish of course, but in this poem I detect more melancholy than cynicism. But that's just MY take of course :-).
I'm looking forward to catching up with more of your analyses ; they provide first class food for thought. Thanks again!
You're very welcome! I agree that poetry analysis is massively subjective (hence my open invitation to anyone who may wish to share their interpretations!), as are Larkin's observations and extrapolations, as you pointed out! I appreciate your comment about my application of Larkin's views, etc. Sometimes I take a line of argument and run with it, but that's possibly because I'm discussing these poems from an educative viewpoint: being a little heavy handed with context will enable all students to benefit from the video, whereas if I were to be more subtle, this could be somewhat exclusionary!
Thanks to you once again for your comments and feedback. I'm thrilled that you're enjoying my videos! :)
@@DystopiaJunkie Understood! :-)
“Unripe acorns” suggests we will only ever find the same disappointing paths and people in life, and so this monotonous life cycle will carry on through future generations, ending the poem on a sense of hopelessness. Their children being “so intent” on finding more “unripe acorns” suggest they will make the same mistakes as their parents as they still have a romanticised view of love and life in their youth, and know no other way of life, as working class people were still very limited in the 50s. It also creates an image of childlike innocence, similar to the innocence their parents once possessed, which perhaps lead them into the monotony of married life.
The women’s beauty having “thickened” also adds to their sense of hopelessness as a woman’s only asset at this time was beauty. Women’s bodies often “thicken” after childbirth, further vilifying married life and motherhood. However, as it is an observational poem, Larkin may be commenting that this is only what it looks like to the outsider, which may be why he uses something superficial to criticise the mothers. After all, the poem is sectioned into 3 octaves, which are supposed to be factual, presenting his lack of emotional connection to working class mothers
Some lovely analysis here - I think you've done a great job of interweaving language analysis and context. Your analysis of poetic form there at the end was especially convincing - good job!!
This analysis really helped me to understand this poem. Thank you for your efforts!
You are very welcome - I'm glad to have been able to help you out 😊
Hi! I noticed that there are 8 lines in each stanza, and was wondering if this could reflect how Larkin was homeschooled until he was 8 years old? I may be thinking too deep into it though… Thanks for another great lesson!
Great spot! I think this time you might be looking into it a bit too deeply, though - I think if there were more references to education in the poem (and more specifically on home schooling), you could make a comment, but here I think he's just using 8-line stanzas (or octets), which are pretty standard stuff in poetry!
Awesome, thanks so much! Have a great day!
You too! ✨️
Should anyone wonder, it did strike me that part of the reason for an emphasis on social control and the imagery used may have been because of the impact of the Moors Murders (1965) on British society but it is listed as written in 1959. So the poem is more likely to be about the general themes that are outlined in the analysis.
Which other poems from the anthology have such a rounded theme of gender, would you say?
I'm not sure about rounded, necessarily, but 'A Wife in London', 'Sonnet 43', and the personification of England in 'The Soldier' jump out to me as poems that could be compared to 'Afternoons' with gender in mind. Possibly 'The Manhunt' too!
Ooh, and 'Cozy Apologia'!
Well explained.
Can you bring an another video on the themes of Philip larkin poems.
Keep it up dude !
Trust me watch at 1.5 speed. You'll thank me later
Good job lad !
thank you so much, sir, for making this video. It was really helpful. Will you analyze '' days'' , ''deceptions'' by Larkin if possible?
I'm glad you found the video helpful. I can't make any promises about getting videos made for those poems, I'm afraid. I've committed to two large series already, which will take months and months for me to make!
In the old video maybe link this one to get more people here
Good idea - I always wondered why the part 2 videos did so poorly compared to the part 1 videos!
what does monotonous mean??
Relating to a monotone - a way of speaking that has no expression or emotion. Very flat and almost robotic. Boring.