Friday, 8 May 2015

Here


Here
Although very plan in its plot, this poem best captures Larkin's distaste for urban life as the passenger of a train that 'swerves' from city to country, commentates on the world around him. The very title is somewhat of a paradox, it appears unattainable despite it being where you are placed. Yet Larkin is purposely unspecific in his title to reach out to universal ideas of identity, belonging and destruction to the natural world.

Analysis
The whole poem is constructed to present a journey, the very 'swerving' of the train can be seen in run-on-lines and lengthily stanzas, which is why it is so poignant that it closes on a natural setting, 'facing the sun'.
The juxtaposing descriptions of the urban and the rural world dominate the focus of this poem.
Water is used to symbolise the liberty of the countryside, the 'widening rivers' suggest limitless possibilities synonymous with the expanding asyndetic listing of the setting, 'scarecrows, haystacks, hares and pheasants'. As 'hidden weeds flower' our observer sees beauty in even the ugliest of features, with the 'flower' imagery connoting new life.
Contrastingly, the waters of the city as 'barge crowded'- congested with human activity that inhibits its free flow. The ugly features of the city are enhanced with harsh consonance and sibilance sounds, 'statues, spires and cranes cluster' that contrast the relaxed 'swerving' idea through the country. Industrial sites are also depicted in 'shadows' a dark and sinister description lacking life and vibrancy. The observer also labels the urban population as a 'cut-price crowd' within their 'raw estates' both images suggest a distaste for the present gratification lifestyle, perhaps a critique on their lack of value and interest of the natural world. Enclosed within edges 'high as hedges', Larkin could use this simile to indicate that confining side to urban life or perhaps to establish the 'cut-price crowds' ignorance and confined mind-set of that present gratification ideology.

The real question is whether or not the observer is content with his segregated position on the train. The caesura of 'loneliness' clarifies.' invites us to ponder this, is Larkin happy being separate from these people and rather 'facing the sun' than facing such characters. As one critic said, 'nowhere is where he wants to be- quiet and out of reach'

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