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It is also name-checked by Jonatha Brooke on the uber-literary album by the Story, The Angel in the House, 1994ish
― the floor is guava (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 19 October 2022 18:46 (one year ago) link
I finished THE NORTH SHIP, Larkin's 1945 collection. It would be fair to say: if you think you know Larkin (as most people do), but haven't read these poems (as some people haven't), then there is an aspect of Larkin you don't know.
― the pinefox, Friday, 21 October 2022 09:27 (one year ago) link
two weeks pass...
A couple of years ago I read the Collected Poems of Larkin. Its a much more approachable volume than the Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens, which I also have. For one thing the poems tend to be short, and the obscure moments generally surrounded by relatable anecdotes from daily life. Also the generally dour and wistful mood carries you through - even if you don't understand everything you feel like you understand the feeling.
― o. nate, Thursday, 10 November 2022 20:17 (one year ago) link
since this thread was bumped recently i got a copy (collected poems) and have been enjoying it immensely.
Arrivals, Departures
This town has docks where channel boats come sidling;
Tame water lanes, tall sheds, the traveller sees
(His bag of samples knocking at his knees),
And hears, still under slackened engines gliding,
His advent blurted to the morning shore.
And we, barely recalled from sleep there, sense
Arrivals lowing in a doleful distance –
Horny dilemmas at the gate once more.
Come and choose wrong, they cry, come and choose wrong;
And so we rise. At night again they sound,
Calling the traveller now, the outward bound:
O not for long, they cry, I not for long –
And we are nudged from comfort, never knowing
How safely we may disregard their blowing,
Or if, this night, happiness too is going.
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 10 November 2022 20:56 (one year ago) link