Concetti Chiave
- Philip Larkin is recognized as the most significant poet of the post-World War II era, known for his collection "High Windows," with "Annus Mirabilis" being the standout poem.
- Despite leading an uneventful life as a librarian, Larkin effectively captured the essence of the middle class, making poetry accessible to common workers and middle-class readers.
- Larkin's poetic philosophy involved three steps: having an idea, conveying it, and ensuring the reader understands it, highlighting his desire to connect with his audience.
- Critics noted a sense of boredom in his work, which Larkin used to authentically depict society's state, resonating with the experiences of many during his time.
- Compared to Wordsworth, Larkin drew inspiration from common realities, focusing on representing life as it was, without romanticizing or aspiring to be a societal prophet.
Philip Larkin - Style and Work
His most important work is the collection of poems ‘’High Windows’’ written in the 70s but published later. His most famous poem from the collection is ‘’Annus Mirabilis’’.He is considered the most important poet of the period after IIWW.
All the scholars say he had an uneventful life=he was just a librarian in a university in Shropshire.
Anyway, his life was not marked by so positive events, he represents the man of that period (he started writing in the 50s until the 70s)--> he embodied the average person of that period: he tried to do his best with his job, he could have done other jobs but he did not care: he just decided to work in that way, and went on working=it is just thanks for being a librarian (he could have done other jobs for sure) managed him to know that part of society he wanted to address in his poems to---> he represented the middle class, that is the readers of poetry=during that period there were common workers and middle class people who started to read poetry.
He had a philosophy: he thought that if you want to write poetry, you have to follow three steps.
1. You have got an idea about the poem, an idea that you want to convey.
2. Find a way to convey that idea.
3. You need a reader to get that idea: if the reader does not get that idea=the poem is useless. Other authors, for example Eliot addressed different people from Larkin, but did not care to be understood--> Larkin instead really wanted to be understood.
When you write a poem=you share some sort of frame with your reader--> it is not the fault of the poet or a fault of the reader, it is how things work at the end--> if you belong to a different culture, you probably won't understand my poems, but if you share my culture, you can understand it; or for example if I write a poem for mature readers, children cannot understand it=> you have to have in common these elements with your reader=you have to be sure about who will be your reader.
He was criticised for a sort of boredom in his writings (uneventful life): the boring and bored speaker of his poems did not want to criticise something, but just wanted to present how society was during that period.
What Larkin felt/experienced during that time were shared by the majority of people during that time—> for this reason he managed to speak about this subject.
He was even compared to Wordsworth: Larkin actually mentioned Wordsworth in one of his interviews=he said that all his boredom, sufferance, and deprivation are important for him as daffodils were for Wordsworth--> both of them took inspiration from common reality, but in a different way. Furthermore, they both put lots of importance on the reader (preface of the lyrical ballad: Wordsworth explains that the reader has to judge/understand at the end9--> Larkin and Wordsworth had something in common, but Wordworth has romantic perspectives, but Larkin just wanted to represent things as they were, without imagination and so on; he did not care about being a sort of prophet for the new generation/society in general.
Annus Mirabilis
Deals with the new kind of society of the 60s. Larkin used, since wanted middle class readers to understand his poetry, simple language/ his topics are themes that common people experience in their everyday life.Domande da interrogazione
- Qual è l'opera più importante di Philip Larkin?
- Come viene descritto lo stile di vita di Philip Larkin?
- Qual è la filosofia di Larkin riguardo alla scrittura di poesie?
- Perché Larkin è stato criticato per la sua scrittura?
- In che modo Larkin è stato paragonato a Wordsworth?
L'opera più importante di Philip Larkin è la raccolta di poesie "High Windows", scritta negli anni '70 e pubblicata successivamente. La poesia più famosa di questa raccolta è "Annus Mirabilis".
Philip Larkin è descritto come una persona con una vita poco movimentata, lavorava come bibliotecario in un'università nello Shropshire e rappresentava l'uomo medio del suo tempo.
Larkin credeva che per scrivere poesie fosse necessario seguire tre passaggi: avere un'idea da trasmettere, trovare un modo per trasmetterla e assicurarsi che il lettore la comprenda.
Larkin è stato criticato per una sorta di noia nei suoi scritti, ma il suo intento era semplicemente presentare la società del suo tempo senza criticarla.
Larkin è stato paragonato a Wordsworth perché entrambi traevano ispirazione dalla realtà comune e attribuivano grande importanza al lettore, sebbene Larkin non avesse prospettive romantiche come Wordsworth.
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