Philip Larkin
Born: 01-01-1922
Philip Larkin was a renowned English poet, novelist, and librarian, celebrated for his sharp wit and poignant reflections on modern life. Born in 1922, his work often explores themes of mortality, love, and the mundane with an unflinching honesty. Larkin's notable collections, including "The Whitsun Weddings" and "High Windows," have cemented his status as one of the 20th century's most influential literary figures. He passed away in 1985.
Book summaries for books written by Philip Larkin
Quotes
A sense of falling, like an arrow-shower / Sent out of sight, somewhere becoming rain.
Loneliness clarifies. Here silence stands / Like heat.
The wind blew all my wedding-day, / And my wedding-night was the night of the high wind.
Distance is no good: can’t forget / The swooping pain it has / That swooping pain, that swooping pain.
That note you hold, narrowing and rising, shakes / Like New Orleans reflected on the water.
Our wedding presumes eternity.
And often he was sorry that he spoke, / And wished her spirit in hell.
The train runs on through wilderness / Of cities going to forever.
In meek obedience, firm / As his, my gaze returns / To what it never saw, / Blindingly pure and bleak.
An Odeon went past, a cooling tower, and / Someone running up to bowl.
Never such innocence, / Never before or since, / As changed itself to past / Without a word—the men / Leaving the gardens tidy, / The thousands of marriages / Lasting a little while longer: / Never such innocence again.
The women shared / The secret like a happy funeral; / While girls, gripping their handkerchiefs, swear / To die with all the secrets that they know.