The Whitsun Weddings
August 2012 Nomination: The Whitsun Weddings [18 October 1958. From The Whitsun Weddings] There are so many Larkin poems I could nominate but ‘The Whitsun Weddings’ is very special to me. It [...]
And now the leaves suddenly lose strength
June 2012 Nomination: And now the leaves suddenly lose strength [3 November 1961. From Collected Poems (1988)] This is an uncollected poem written in 1961. It is a changing of the seasons poems [...]
Afternoons
April 2012 Nomination: Afternoons [September 1959. From The Whitsun Weddings] This poem was written when Philip Larkin lived in his top flat in Pearson Park in Hull. He loved living in a high [...]
The Building
March 2012 Nomination: The Building [9 February 1972. From High Windows] Having suffered a minor stroke at the beginning of the month, I spent the first two weeks of December 2011 in Hull Royal [...]
Ambulances
February 2012 Nomination: Ambulances [10 January 1961. From The Less Deceived] Rather like ‘Aubade’, this poem is a portrait of Larkin’s fear and contemplation of death. Yet it manages to [...]
I Remember, I Remember
January 2012 Nomination: I Remember, I Remember [8 January 1954. From The Less Deceived] Although Philip Larkin and I come from different worlds and diffferent decades, we share one close [...]
Winter Nocturne
December 2011 Nomination: Winter Nocturne [December 1938. From Collected Poems (1988)] My choice reflects the month of shorter days, Philip Larkin’s first published poem, now 73 years old in its [...]
Street Lamp
November 2011 Nomination: Street Lamps [September 1939. From Collected Poems (1988)] With so many superb mature works available, why have I chosen a poem written when Larkin was a sixth-former? [...]
Breadfruit
September 2011 Nomination: Breadfruit [19 November 1961. From Collected Poems (1988)] This is a poem that proclaims itself Larkin’s in many ways: by theme, by style and most delightfully by its [...]
An Arundel Tomb
May 2011 Nomination: An Arundel Tomb [20 February 1956. From The Whitsun Weddings] This month marks the 5th anniversary of my father – David Rees’ death. Dad was for a time webmaster of the [...]
Toads Revisited
April 2011 Nomination: Toads Revisited [October 1962. From The Whitsun Weddings] ‘Toads Revisited’ is a favourite of mine from the seminal The Whitsun Weddings collection. On reading it again, [...]
A Study of Reading Habits
February 2011 Nomination: A Study of Reading Habits [20 August 1960. From The Whitsun Weddings] I was fifteen when I found ‘A Study of Reading Habits’ in an untravelled corner of a poetry [...]