Love Songs In Age by Philip Larkin - Poem Analysis

Overview

• Collection: The Whitsun Weddings
• Themes: Hope, nostalgia, disappointment, power of music
• Tone: Poignant portrayal of youthful hope and its failure with age.

Themes and Analysis

• Portrays music as a powerful, nostalgic force.
• Reflects on how love songs suggest a promise that doesn't hold true in reality.
• Captures a middle-class woman's life of the 1950s in England.

Poem Summary

• Subject: A widow finds her old sheet music.
• Experience: Reconnects with the hope and promise music once held.
• Conclusion: Acknowledges music's inability to solve her problems.

Detailed Analysis

Stanza One

• Focus: The widow's ordinary life and her rediscovery of sheet music.
• Imagery: Degradation of sheet music symbolizes passage of time.
• Rhyme: "Widowhood" and "stood" suggest loneliness.

Stanza Two

• Focus: Music transports her back to youth.
• Emotion: Reexperiences youthful hope and potential.

Stanza Three

• Focus: Allure of love songs and their promise to bring order.
• Reality: Music cannot solve life's issues beyond its duration.

Themes

• Love and Age: Music's power and ultimate futility.
• Disappointment: Recognizing the limits of art in changing life.

Structure and Form

• Form: Three octaves (8-line stanzas)
• Rhyme Scheme: abacbcdd (reflects musical repetition)
• Enjambment: Suggests flow of music and memory.
• Meter: Iambic feet (pairs of unstressed/stressed syllables)

Literary Devices

• Oxymoron: "Frank submissive chord" captures conflicting emotions.
• Sibilance: Reflects sadness and melody.
• Iambic Feet: Emphasizes melody and key poetic words.

Philip Larkin Background

• Born: 1922, Coventry, England
• Occupation: Poet, novelist, librarian
• Interests: Jazz music
• Reputation: Respected for poetry, tarnished by issues of racism and misogyny.

FAQs

• Identity of Woman: Likely a fictional character, not based on someone specific.
• Pessimism: Sad ending, but acknowledges moments of happiness.