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Andrew Motion

Reference Back

November 2010 Nomination: Reference Back [21 August 1955. From The Whitsun Weddings] One (NB: one) of my favourite Larkin poems (they tend to change depending on my mood, the time of year, the weather) is ‘Reference Back’ – for the not very simple reason

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Dockery and Son

January 2002 Nomination: Dockery and Son [28 March 1963. From The Whitsun Weddings] ‘Dockery and Son’ succeeds in surprising and delighting us because (and although) it is a such a typical Larkin poem: the themes of youth and age, involvement and isolation, then

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Poems