This week, I want to feature something different by touching on what is probably my favourite collection of poetry from everybody’s most marmite of poets, Philip Larkin. I am also breaking new ground for Book of the Week by covering something I have read, but have yet to review.
The Whitsun Weddings is one of the few compilations of poetry I have voluntarily read in my life, and found much of its content simultaneously humorous, dark, thought-provoking, and relatable. Of course, there are poems that select readers will prefer, and some that select readers will despite. Larkin seems to be a rather black and white poet when it comes to receiving love or hate from critics and audiences.
Generally speaking, this whole collection questions much of life, notably love and mortality. The title poem itself—’The Whitsun Weddings’—is an exploration of what marriage actually means in (then) modern Britain, and one of times where it feels extremely autobiographical on Larkin’s part.
If you consider yourself a fan of poetry, especially English poets, and you have never given this collection a read, then I suggest you reconsider what you view yourself as. After that, go out and get a copy of The Whitsun Weddings, because it will provide countless hours of theorising, re-reading, and trying to pinpoint exactly what the ever-cynical Larkin was attempting to suggest or convey through his prose.
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