{"id":5091,"date":"2025-07-16T22:37:57","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T22:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afflatuscreations.com\/?page_id=5091"},"modified":"2025-07-16T22:40:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T22:40:29","slug":"life-a-linear-time-dimension-in-human-time-an-overview-of-philip-larkins-poetry","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/afflatuscreations.com\/index.php\/life-a-linear-time-dimension-in-human-time-an-overview-of-philip-larkins-poetry\/","title":{"rendered":"Life, \u201cA linear-Time Dimension\u201d in Human Time: An Overview of Philip Larkin\u2019s Poetry"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Life, \u201cA linear-Time Dimension\u201d in Human Time:<\/strong><\/p>\n

An Overview of Philip Larkin\u2019s Poetry<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Rajamouly Katta<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Larkin, life is a texture in \u201ca linear-time dimension\u201d. It is a hard journey through time in which \u201chappiness is too going\u201d (TLD, 44). It is the illusion of illusions as time rules life to turn it into a supreme illusion.\u00a0 All time – present, past, and future \u2013 serves as a three-fold illusion and becomes a source for disappointments in life. Mortality and futility are the inevitable facts of life. The future, which is unpromising, acts as a harbinger of misfortunes including death, the harshest fact of life. The present is seen with a series of failures and frustrations in life on the collapse of castles built in the air. The past is past to serve as a reminder of what we ought to have been. Life after all is in thrall to time\u2019s constant flux.<\/p>\n

Key words: <\/strong>Time, powers, thrall, illusion, life, birth, growth, childhood, youth, middle age<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A human grows conscious of time and its inexorable flow to bring about inevitable changes in life. He finds his child growing from childhood to youth and his parents growing from middle age to old age. Time in its endless fleet brings about changes like growth or decline. His life flows with the stream of time. It is the study of life in the domain of time. There is a poet par excellence to deal with life in the reign of time in the British literary firmament. He is none other than Philip Larkin who as a poet treats time as man’s element and believes in time to enthrall life. He, as a poet and man, grows conscious of the fact that human lives are in the strict governance of time,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What are days for?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Days are where we live<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They come, they wake us<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Time and time over.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They are to be happy in:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Where can we live but days?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cDays\u201d (TWW, 27)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larkin as a poet and man concurs with time as it conquers life by its invincible powers. For him, life is rooted in time, and it is in the thrall of time, as it exists in “a linear-time dimension”. Time is not an abstract idea but has dramatic functions as a double-edged weapon, “eroding” agent. Time in its relentless, endless stream bestows on life mortality. It is time that bestows on us the brevity of life in time\u2019s flow:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Endlessly, time-honoured irritant,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 …\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 …\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 …<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It will grow again, until we begin dying\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (TLD, 19)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Life is therefore a voyage in the ocean of time with ebbs and tides.\u00a0 Life is after all a sojourn to traverse from womb to tomb in time’s domain. The concept of time in the life of every creature especially man is human time that is the focus and fulcrum of Larkin\u2019s poetry.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Time as a double-edged weapon turns life mortal in life on one hand. It turns life futile in its exorable flow by shattering dreams, hopes, expectations and aims on the other hand. As a result, life is full of failures, tensions, disappointments, and frustrations against man’s wishes in life,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On this we blame our last<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Threadbare perspectives, seasonal decease.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cTriple Time\u201d (TLD, 35)<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Man looks at the future expecting it to be the harbinger of good fortune. It is to bring “the sparkling armada of promises” (TLS-20) like the cloud to shower rain, the tree to offer fruits or the ship to carry comforts to him,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Always too eager for the future, we<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pick up bad habits of expectancy.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Something is always approaching; everyday<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Till then we say.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cNext, Please\u201d (TLD, 20)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larkin has a clear perspective about time in the time future, time present and time past. Time flows from the future through the present into the past. Man looks at the future in his childhood, loaded with dreams, expectations and wants. In the ravages of time, the promising future turns into the dull and prosaic present against all expectations in life as man does not fulfill all those for his disappointment. The present turns into the past to remind him of failures to prove that life is futility and nullity.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All time-present, past, and future \u2013 serves as a source of discomforts and disappointments in our lives.\u00a0 Larkin realistically portrays life and failures in life with snapshot details. As Calvin Bedient says, \u201cLike Hardy and Frost, he uses imagination precisely in order to show what life is like when imagination is taken out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larkin accepts that all facts, all emotions, and all dreams, related to man\u2019s life and measured by time. Life ceaselessly traverses through stages: birth, childhood, youth, middle age, and old age to culminate in the end of age in time’s constant flux to show that life is vulnerable. Time’s flow is irreversible and so life is futility first then, it leads to mortality,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Life is first boredom, then fear<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Whether or not we use it, it goes,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And leaves what something hidden from us chose,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And age and then only the end of age.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cDockery and Son\u201d (TWW, 38)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Life is a thrall in time’s domain. Life goes against man’s wishes. Man wants to live longer and happier but fails due to the ravages of time. According to Larkin, “something” is nothing but time in its powers that leads life,\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Something is pushing them<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To the side of their own lives. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAfternoons\u201d (TWW, 44)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Man’s life in the animal kingdom marks a clear-cut departure from floral life, plant kingdom. Man’s life culminates in death, the end of life. Larkin, as an agnostic feels that there is no life or rebirth after death. Life culminates in inevitable mortality, death as the deadline to the breath of life to mark a difference from trees. The trees have the yearly trick of looking new but not man’s life that starts its voyage in the river of time with birth and advances youth, middle age to old age and finally to inevitable death. Birth gives life to man, but life gives death to him in its journey through time. For Larkin, \u201clife necessarily means time\u201d as time is man’s element. What we were, are and will be decided by time alone.\u00a0 Time in its constant flux and its effects in the life of man is the nucleus of his poetry.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Life is the union of three important stages: birth, marriage (growth) and death. Life exists between two oblivions: birth and death with the shelters of womb and tomb respectively. Church represents, \u201ca serious house on serious earth\u201d for the three stages in \u201cChurch going\u201d (TLD, 28) as it is the place, which has much to do with birth and marriage and more to do with death.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Only in separation \u2013 marriage, and birth<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And death, and thoughts of there \u2013 for which was built<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This special shell?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cChurch Going\u201d (TLD, 29)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Birth initiates life voyage in the ocean of time. Larkin photographically depicts life with birth in the womb,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201c… a sense of falling, like an arrow-shower<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sent out of sight somewhere becoming rain.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (TWW, 21).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Here rain serves as a symbol of energy for the creation of life by means of birth, the first and foremost stage. The \u201carrow shower\u201d and \u201cfalling\u201d are suggestive of life. Birth is always of interest since it is a serious aspect of life:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 About being beautiful,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Or running off a spring<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of innocence and love-<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They will all wish you that,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And should it prove possible,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, you\u2019re a lucky girl.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cBorn yesterday\u201d (TLD, 24)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Life initiated by birth first leads to childhood, the stage of innocence when we are “Always too eager for the future,” \u201cNext, Please\u201d (TLD, 20). In the stage we hope that the future will fulfill our expectations, dreams and desires by means of \u201cour adult enterprise\u201d (TLD, 35) but we are indeed ignorant of what will definitely happen to us.\u00a0 We experience a series of failures, missed opportunities and disappointments,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And on another day will be the past,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A valley cropped by fat neglected chances<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That we insensately forbore to fleece<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On this we blame our last<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Threadbare perspectives, seasonal decease.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cTriple Time\u201d (TLD, 35)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0As seen from my childhood, the future is the stage of innocence is the harbinger of good fortune. The future is full of dreams and expectations. Larkin focuses on childhood from two angles. One is to see the stage in childhood days with \u201csparkling armada of promises\u201d (TLD, 20) and an optimistic outlook in fulfilling of them. He watches the stage in the middle age of his life with the experiences as childhood with unfulfilled promises,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We think each one will heave to and unload<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All good into our lives, all we are owed<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For waiting so devoutly and so long<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But we are wrong.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cNext, Please\u201d (TLD, 20)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0 Life passes from the future, the stage of innocence in childhood to that of experience in adulthood. The present that was once the future as seen from childhood with its dreams, expectations and desires turns dry, dull, and prosaic. Larkin as a poet finds them shattered in the present in the ceaseless flow of time. Life encounters a series of clashes between what we expect and what we experience. Larkin\u2019s poetry holds mirror to the clashes between the opposing attitudes in life: illusion and reality, truth and hypocrisy, desire and actuality, choice and failure, hope and hopelessness, fact and fantasy, solitariness and sociability, work and idleness, plan and practice and so on.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blake, Wordsworth, Dylan Thomas, Thomas Hood, Subhadra Kumari Chowhan many other poets feel like recalling the past and fill their hearts with happiness, but Larkin does not sentimentalize the past.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larkin has a unique way to forget the past and so he does not sentimentalize it as he treats it as forgotten boredom. In \u201cComing\u201d he treats his childhood as the uneventful, \u201ca forgotten boredom\u201d (TLD, 17).\u00a0 He never attaches any nostalgic importance to childhood. Larkin’s poem, \u201cI Remember, I Remember\u201d reflects the memories of the poet\u2019s own past without any sign of sentimentality: \u201cmy childhood was unspent\u201d (TLD, 38). Childhood does not look familiar to him now in middle age.\u00a0 All the places connected to his childhood or youth have nothing to remind him of anything worthy,<\/p>\n

\u2018was that\u2019, my friend smiled, \u2018where you \u201chave your roots\u201d?\u2019<\/p>\n

No, only where my childhood was unspent,<\/p>\n

I wanted to retort, just where I started:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI Remember, I Remember\u201d, (TLD, 38)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larkin\u2019s attitude towards childhood is in contrast with that of Thomas Hood, Subadra Kumari Chowhan, Dylan Thomas and Wordsworth.\u00a0 They treat it as a delightful and spectacular event. Thomas Hood\u2019s poem \u201cI Remember, I Remember\u201d is an example for its very much nostalgia and sentiment:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I Remember, I Remember<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The house where I was born<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The little windows where the sun<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Same peeping at noon:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He never came to wink too soon<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Never brought too long a day<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But now, I often with the night<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Had born my breath away.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Poem No: 224, pal groves golden Treasury.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larkin disagrees with the notions of romanticized childhood as in Thomas Hood. He treats his childhood at Coventry as the uneventful event and the period of dire nullity, emptiness and even dullness. He describes his childhood as the stage \u201cunspent\u201d to mean that it has \u201cscarcely happened at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By stopping the entries in his diary, the poet attempts to forget his childhood in the past though it is an integral part of his life. Larkin draws a thick curtain over his past because he finds the present life empty, dry, and meaningless in the ravages of time.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larkin as a poet recognizes the ordinariness of childhood.\u00a0 He treats his whole life as an ordinary one like that of unnumbered ordinary people.\u00a0 Referring to Larkin, P.R. King says that we \u201ccannot escape the mundane lot of a perfectly ordinary life\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larkin wishes Kingsley Amis\u2019s daughter, Sally Amis an ordinary life: \u201can average of talents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 May you be ordinary;<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Have, like other women,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 An average of talents.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not ugly, not good-looking<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nothing uncustomary<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To pull you off you balance\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cBorn Yesterday\u201d (TLD, 24)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The poem, \u201cMaiden Name\u201d reflects the change in the maiden name of the poet\u2019s former girlfriend, which has significance up to the marriage of a girl.\u00a0 In the wake of her marriage, the maiden name, associated once with her girlhood and adolescence is transformed to a different one in life. The maiden name is to mean now \u201cwhat we feel now about you then\u201d (LD, 23). The maiden name embodying her young beauty is \u201capplicable to no one\u201d now. Life brings in this transformation in time\u2019s flow:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Marrying left your maiden name disused;<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Its five light sounds no longer means your face,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Your voice and all your variants of grace;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMaiden Name\u201d (TLD, 23)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larkin feels that the maiden name, associated with her youth belongs to the past. In the present, the maiden name is \u201cpast and gone\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In \u201cLines on a young Lady\u2019s Photograph Album\u201d, the Larkin speaker comments on his girlfriend\u2019s family album and the impossibility of photograph in preserving a moment of reality. The photographs of the past life in the album strike a sharp contrast in real life in the present. The girl\u2019s youth in the past is in faithful arrest in the photographs to contrast with her past in the present.\u00a0 The past is past in the constant fleet of time,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That this is a real girl in a real place,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Or is it just the past? Those flowers, that gate<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 These misty parks and motors, Lacerate<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Simply by being over; you<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Contract my heart by looking out of date.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cLines on a young Lady\u2019s Photograph Album\u201d (TLD, 13)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The snapshot details in the album appear to be \u201cout of date\u201d and growing \u201csmaller and clearer as the years go by\u201d in the passage of time.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larkin, as a thirty-year old poet makes constant futile attempts to destroy the barrier of time as stated in \u201cReference Back\u201d.\u00a0 He opines that the ceaseless flow of time is responsible for his separation from his mother and his youth turning into his middle age.\u00a0 He therefore firmly believes in the conviction that the shocking transformation from youth to middle age results in time’s flow. It also leads him to \u201cunsatisfactory age\u201d in the ‘Reference Back’ (TWW, 40) in the present life. Three decades of life in time is prone to become \u201cunsatisfactory\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In \u201cverse De society\u201d, the poet expects much pleasure but experiences otherwise,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Only the young can be alone freely.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not peace, but other things.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cVerse De Society\u201d, (HW, 35)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHow Distant\u201d says that youth is transitory, and the aims of youth are shattered as time advances life from youth to middle age.\u00a0 The Larkin speaker gains bitter experiences in middle age in the inexorable flow of time. He feels that youth has relentlessly deserted him. He grows with the sense of his remoteness from \u201cbeing young.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How distant, the departure of young men<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Down valleys, or watching<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The green shore past the salt-white cordage<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rising and falling.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHow Distant\u201d (HW, 31)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larkin realizes the harsh realities of life, as he becomes a victim to inevitable failure in satiation of his desires, dreams, and expectations in youth. He experiences irreparable loss of youth, as he does not regain it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of being young; that it can\u2019t come again,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But is for others undiminished somewhere.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSad Steps\u201d (HW, 32)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In time\u2019s endless flow, our lives advance to death, mortality, realize the fact that life is a series of failures and disappointments as futility. Consequently, man grows pessimistic about the future.\u00a0 Bruce Martin points out the fact that Larkin as poet and man never thinks or the future with bright hopes in his middle age, saying, \u201cEarlier he looks towards the future, here he confines his attention to either his past or his present\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larkin presents the picture of the emotional misery of wives in middle age in \u201cAfternoons\u201d. The wives have lost their youth and charm, and experienced monotonous household routine. They, as mothers lead to middle age and old age.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Grass\u201d presents a graphic overview of old age. The sunrise of life leads to the sunset of life. In decrepit old age, limbs become weak, and eyesight plays hide-and seek,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The eye can hardly pick the out.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAt Grass\u201d (TLD, 45)<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Horses in the retired stage cannot gain youth, name, and fame in the present. Retiring from the race, the horses are leading to old age and decrepit old age and only \u201cthe end of age\u201d (TWW, 38).<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And not a field glass sees them home,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 With bridles as the evening come.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAt Grass\u201d (TLD, 45)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Larkin, man is worried about the brevity of life. Old age like disease causes dread in life, as it advances life to the threshold of death for endless extinction. In an interview, Larkin refers to the dread of old age:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, dreadfully. If you assume you\u2019re going to live to be seventy, seven decades, and think of each decade as a day of the week, starting with Sunday, then. I\u2019m on Friday afternoon now Rather a shock, isn\u2019t it? If you ask why doesn\u2019t bother me, I can only say I dread endless extinction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larkin identifies with old people when he says, \u201cWhy aren\u2019t they screaming?\u201d (HW, 19) He shares the suffering of old people. He calls old people \u201cold fools\u201d since they lose the power of memory and cannot remember what has happened. They behave in a childish way during old age,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026Do they somehow suppose<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s more grown\u2013up when your mouth hangs open and drools.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And you keep on pissing yourself.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe Old Fools\u201d (HW, 19).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larkin questions the old people on their ignorance of death: \u201cHow can they ignore it?\u201d in \u201cThe Old Fools\u201d (HW, 19). Old Fools live \u201cNot here and now, but where all they happened once\u201d (HW, 20). Death becomes indispensable to the old because life is time-bound. In the voyage of life, old people are quite aware of the aging process and the approach of death. The subject of old age is powerfully dramatized in this poem “The Old Fools”. He feels that life is \u201cslow dying\u201d (TWW, 11) as man has the dread of aging. He becomes much pessimistic because of both the fragility of man and the dread of old age that ultimately culminates in death and futility in life. Consequently, we feel for our failure in our attempts and realize that life is futile under the \u201csolving emptiness\u201d (TWW, 33). As P R King says, Larkin \u201crecords the various ways in which man pulls the wool over his own eyes in being tempted to believe that he can achieve a paradise of money, or fame, or sex, or close relationship with others\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larkin accepts the supremacy of time and time as the conqueror of man\u2019s life.\u00a0 His attempts to fulfill his desires but fail in the passage of time, \u201csuffering is exact\u201d (TLD, 37) in the governance of time.\u00a0 Life leads to the state of sadness in the tyranny of merciless passage of time since it fills life with a series of failures and deceptions rather than adventures and rewards. As Salem K. Hasan rightly judges Larkin\u2019s poetry, \u201cTruly, life becomes even thinner when we contemplate the idea of human life being \u2018dispersed\u2019 into nothingness\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larkin\u2019s own sensitivity to human suffering is evident in his poetry, He believes that life travels through wilderness, “The train runs through wilderness”, Poem: XII (TNS, 24) It is time to make life travel through wildness, sadness, and nothingness in its flux, “There is regret.\u00a0 Always, there is regret” \u201cPoem: XXIV\u201d (TNS, 37). In poem I (To Bruce Montegomery) the refrain, \u201cA drum taps: a wintry drum\u201d is suggestive of Larkin\u2019s early awareness of sadness. Philip Gardner says that in Larkin\u2019s poetry there is \u201cearly awareness of sadness at the back of things, of the passing of time and inevitability of death\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Man struggles for the harmony of fulfillment, but he undergoes experiences contrary to his choice despite his constant struggle.\u00a0 The hopes, dreams and desires in life will collapse leading to the realization that life has sadness or melancholy to the core.\u00a0 Terry Whalen puts it, \u201cThe North Ship is quite pale, not to mention, consciously aiming, in its youthful and contrived sadness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHome Is So Sad\u201d echoes the sadness of the speaker, which is in fact the inevitable state of human condition to result in the mortal nature and futile existence because of time\u2019s eroding agents:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Home is so sad. It stays as it was left,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Shaped to the comfort of the last to go<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As if to win them back. Instead, bereft<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of anyone to please, it withers so,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Having no heart to put aside the theft.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHome is so sad\u201d (TWW, 17)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In poems like \u201cCut Grass\u201d, \u201cThe Trees\u201d, \u201cSad Steps\u201d and \u201cSolar\u201d the poet shows an analogy between man and the trees as they both exist in a \u201clinear\u2013time dimension\u201d. Like man, the trees feel that \u201ctheir greenness is a kind of grief\u201d (HW, 12) as their leaves and flowers fall to the ground in autumn. In \u201cCut Grass\u201d, there is a tone of sadness on the part of trees for transience as leaves and flowers shed for destruction like man\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cut grass lies frail:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brief is the breath.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cCut Grass\u201d, (HW, 41)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larkin portrays clashes that our lives always confront in life. He draws the \u201cthick curtains\u201d between what we expect earlier and what we realize later to fill our lives with misery as man inherits misery and passes it onto man and this is inevitable in the destructive force of time:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Man hands on misery to man<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It deepens like a coastal shelf,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Get out as early as you can,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And don\u2019t have kids yourself\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThis Be the Verse\u201d, (HW, 30)<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Misery persists as long as man exists. Desires are the root cause of human misery. Consequently, man grows pessimistic as he experiences a series of disappointments, failures, and frustrations. The poem reflects, as Grevel Lindop says, that man\u2019s \u201csplendid exposure of facile pessimism\u201d Andrew Motion says, \u201cLarkin has often been regarded as hopeless and inflexible pessimist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larkin presents life as a texture in \u201ca linear-time dimension\u201d. It is a hard journey through time in which \u201chappiness is too going\u201d (TLD, 44). When life is an illusion, time that rules life serves as a supreme illusion.\u00a0 All time – present, past, and future – serves as a three-fold illusion and becomes a source for disappointments in life. Mortality and futility are the inevitable facts of life. The future, which is unpromising, acts as a harbinger of misfortunes including death, the harshest fact of life. The present is seen with a series of failures and disappointments in life on the collapse of castles built in the air. The past is past to serve as a reminder of what we ought to have been. Life after all is in thrall to time\u2019s constant flux.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Works cited<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larkin, Collected Poems: Philip Larkin, London, The Marvell Press, 1988<\/p>\n

\u2026 The North Ship (TNS), London. Fortune Press, 1945<\/p>\n

\u2026The Less Deceived (TLD), Yorkshire, Marvell Press, 1955<\/p>\n

\u2026The Whitsun Weddings (TWW), London, Faber Faber, 1964<\/p>\n

.\u2026 High Windows (HW), London: Faber Faber, 1974\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Calvin Bedient, Eight Contemporary Poets, (London: Oxford University Press, 1974) 71.<\/p>\n

Philip Larkin, Required Writing, (London, Faber &Faber, 1983) 47<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. R. King, Nine Contemporary Poets, (London: Methuen, 1979) 11.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Bruce Martin, Philip Larkin, (Boston: Mass G.K. Hal, 1978) 134.<\/p>\n

    Larkin, Required writing: Miscellaneous Pieces 1955- 1982, (London: Faber & Faber, 1983) 55.<\/p>\n

    P.R. King, Nine Contemporary Poets, 5.<\/p>\n

    Salem K. Hasan, Philip Larkin and His Contemporaries, London: Macmillan, 1989, 1988)38<\/p>\n

    Philip Gardener, \u201cThe wintry Drum: The Poetry of Philip Larkin\u201d, Dalhousie Review, Vol, 48, No, 1, (Spring 1948) 89.<\/p>\n

    Terry Whalen, Philip Larkin and English Poetry, London, Macmillan, 1986, 29.<\/p>\n

    Grevel Lindop, \u2018Being different from yourself: Philip Larkin in the 1970s\u2019, British Poetry since 1970: A Critical Study, 49.<\/p>\n

    Andrew Motion, Philip Larkin, London, Mathuen, 1982) 59<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/strong>Dr. Rajamouly Katta<\/strong>, M.A., M. Phil., Ph. D.,\u00a0Professor of English by profession and poet, short story writer, novelist, writer, critic and translator by predilection, has to his credit 64 books of all genres and 638 publications of poems, short stories, articles and translations published in journals, books and anthologies of high repute. He has so far written 3672 poems (including 1512 haiku) and published them in 22 anthologies, 200 short stories in 9 anthologies, 9 novels 27 skits. Creative Craft of Dr. Rajamouly Katta: Sensibilities and Realities is a collection of articles on his works. As a poet, he has won several awards and prizes in Poetry Contests. He is the Editor-in-chief, Creative Crystal Publication, Dallas, America.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    <\/a> Dr. Katta Rajamouly, Professor and Head, Department of English (S.H), Ganapathy Engineering College, Warangal Email: rajamoulykatta@gmail.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

    The article was received on 20\/04\/2025 accepted on 15\/07\/2025 and published on 30\/07\/2025<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Life, \u201cA linear-Time Dimension\u201d in Human Time: An Overview of Philip Larkin\u2019s Poetry \u00a0 Dr. Rajamouly Katta \u00a0 Abstract \u00a0 According to Larkin, life is a texture in \u201ca linear-time dimension\u201d. It is a hard journey through time in which \u201chappiness is too going\u201d (TLD, 44). It is the illusion of illusions as time rules […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5091","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nLife, \u201cA linear-Time Dimension\u201d in Human Time: An Overview of Philip Larkin\u2019s Poetry - Afflatus Creations<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"According to Larkin, life is a texture in \u201ca linear-time dimension\u201d. 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