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 but it shows, perhaps too clearly for Larkin to want to
June 2010 Nomination: How to Sleep [10 March 1950. From Collected Poems (1988)] Blessed are those whose heads hit the pillow and then sleep like stones until morning. Most of us, from “convent-child” to “Pope” share, with Larkin, that nightly problem of how to
Nomination: Coming [25 February 1950. From XX Poems and The Less Deceived] Larkin is not in any sense a nature poet yet many of his poems such as ‘The Trees’ and ‘First Sight’ celebrate the change of the seasons and, in particular, his excitement at
