The Importance Of Elsewhere

Lonely in Ireland, since it was not home,
Strangeness made sense. The salt rebuff of speech,
Insisting so on difference, made me welcome:
Once that was recognised, we were in touch

Their draughty streets, end-on to hills, the faint
Archaic smell of dockland, like a stable,
The herring-hawker's cry, dwindling, went
To prove me separate, not unworkable.

Living in England has no such excuse:
These are my customs and establishments
It would be much more serious to refuse.
Here no elsewhere underwrites my existence.

Content
A confusing and conflicting comparison between foreign Ireland,  which is 'not home' and England. Of Autobiographical form, this poem was written just months after Larkin's visit to Ireland and so when investigating to what extent he is content with being separate and isolated, we can assume it is Larkin's true desires of being out of reach.

His separate position within Ireland is made clear throughout, the dividing caesura and commas throughout the first stanza, 'strangeness made sense.' highlights his division from the rest of society he is placed within. The sibilance of this creates a harsh sound aligned with the gritty, 'salt rebuff of speech' that conveys a language barrier. He recognises their insistence on 'difference' yet perhaps in many ways there is an affection for this? The asyndetic listing of the natural world, 'draughty streets, end on end hills' suggest an enthusiastic love for the setting, it also connotes endless possibilities and liberty, the freedom of the 'draughty' streets firmly contradict the dictating 'customs and establishments' of England that Larkin feels 'write his existence'. Visually, writing 2 stanzas on Ireland and only 1 on England is symbolic of his preference for 'elsewhere' as he acknowledges that they were 'in touch' in a trusting affection. As well as through pronouns, assimilating to 'we' in Ireland while remaining singular 'I' in England.

The half rhyme suggests a lack of fulfilment, perhaps at home but maybe in Ireland as he likes to be isolate. The paradox title of the misty 'elsewhere, confirms the argument of critics that 'quiet and out of reach- no where is where he wants to be'.