Abstract:
Analyses Philip Larkin's four published collected volumes of poetry. Larkin was identified with other writers of the period, a group collectively known as "The Movement". These writers who had emerged after the Second World War seemed to express a quality of determined "Englishness" which appeared to resist any foreign influences, posited strong anti-Modernist views and wished to make itself accessible in its deliberate anti-Intellectualism. While much of the poetry in "The Less Deceived" seemed to satisfy these norms, there are also hints of Symbolism or Abstract ideas in Larkin's work. In "The North Ship", the hints of Symbolism may be due to the Yeatsian influence, but in later work, hints of Symbolism have persiste and are detected. The two later volumes, "The Whitsun Weddings" (1964) and "Hugh Windows" (1974), have established Larkin's reputation as a leading contemporary English poet. In both these collections, there are elements that still would cause Larkin to be considered as a "Movement" poet. At the same time, however, the transcendant qualities which point to the inherent complexity in his work are more obvious. The variety of registers which characterizes his poetry makes it at once accessible and abstract, again indicating the fascination this poetry has for a wide poetry-reading public. His two novels do not constitute a major aspect of this study, but where useful indications of themes or pre-occupations occur, these are mentioned. Similarly, Larkin's critical writing provides insights into, and confirmation of, views expressed in this dissertation.
