Collected Poems

In addition to a comprehensive Table Of Contents that individually identifies each poem by title, book contains both a Poem Title index (that identifies the page location(s) of poems) as well as a secondary Index that locates poems according to their opening lines -- making it virtually impossible not to find a specific poem should you be looking for one, unless it is not here. For, as noted in the forward by Anthony Thwaite, this collection, while including most of Mr. Larkin's published works, does not include everything. Yet, for me, whose prior knowledge of Larkin extended basically to " This Be The Verse", this book provides a very solid introduction to the poet's varied writings.

Larkin should be read for his accessibility and wisdom

Philip Larkin is the poetic voice of the modern age, so few poets there are from these times! He captures the 50s and 60s, their major themes and angsts in a classical lyricism that eschews all the liberal pandering one finds in other would be artists of the era. He sizes up the sexual revolution, modern lit and letters, jazz music, and the alienation of the modern urban society like no other voice. Thwaite's selection is strong; he includes all the major poems, and most of the minor ones, other than the selections from the North Ship, which is known to represent juvenilia, more or less. Still, there are notable omissions, such as August Schoolroom and Mother, Summer, I, which while inexplicable, may be for the better, because in this way our Larkin voyage is incomplete, and fine unknown poems lie beyond the horizon! (The horizon of Burnett's much longer Complete Poems, that is!) There is no other poet quite the same as Larking, or quite as good in his way. This short volume is an excellent place to start, just begin your reading after the selections from the North Ship, or you might get a misimpression of the poet.

This book contains some of the poet's better-known pieces. He is a master, one of the poets a person should read even if he or she is not into poetry very much. This man is real and observant, irreverent and emotionally deep. Society is on a downhill skid if it does not have poets like this to keep us in touch with life as it is.

I was curious about Larkin because I kept hearing that he wrote salty poetry, and managed to be famous at the same time. None of the poems I ever heard seemed particularly blue, but my curiosity finally got the best of me. What a surprise. Plain spoken, carefully crafted, clearly the work of a fellow life long bachelor which gave him a wry sense of humor about things that others might take all too seriously. And touching as well. "Born Yesterday," a dedication poem for a child is exceptionally tender--none of that stiffness that others evince in occasional poems. His evocations of jazz come from an equally honest place, completely uncliched writing. And what work a day poet couldn't see himself in Larkin's two toad poems about the need to sweat out a living while aspiring to art. And yes, there are a couple of poems with what might be considered salty diction--by my grandmother; but I'd rather have such straightforward honesty in my poets any day instead of the turgid, recondite, I'm smarter than you and I'm not about to let you forget it stuff that's sure to be consigned to the footnotes of history while they're still reading Larkin for pleasure.

Philip Larkin no longer needs any introduction: he is widely recognised as one of the greatest English poets of the twentieth century. His poetry may however not be to everyone's taste: there is no place for lace and flowers in Larkin. His work is more often than not dark and reflects the feelings of a man who probably felt everything was wasting away about him: not only his own life, but the world as a whole. Through his poems we discover a man who seems to have skipped childhood and adolescence and who finds himself at fifty having had life pass him by. Larkin's poetry expresses his sourness, his fears, his repressed anger, his spite, his general disgust with society and the modern world. And it does this in the most expressive of ways, never shying away from the words that seem necessary, however crude they might be. There is much beauty in his despair. If you are sensitive to poetry, then you cannot avoid reading Larkin. Be warned however that you should not read Larkin to brighten up your life: the "happy poems" are few and far between. But read him nonetheless and decide afterwards whether his work is to your liking. He may just hit the spot on one of those lonely evenings when you feel yourself that everything just isn't as it should be. And after that, you will never be able to separate yourself from a copy of Philip Larkin's Collected Poems...

I hesitated between getting this Thwaite edition of Larkin and the fuller Burnett edition which claims to have absolutely everything Larkin ever wrote that is vaguely poetical (eg a postcard 'good weather here - lots of cheer'). Most reviewers think that the extra poems and snippets in Burnett's edition are not worth the extra price - and Burnett's book is over half his own comments (I got the book out of the library before choosing). What finally decided me on the Thwaite edition was that Larkin was particular as to what he published - and I wanted to honor that. In other words, do you want all the poems that Larkin himself thought fit for publishing (and some others that he tidied up)? If so, this Thwaite edition is the one to get. Or do you want everything that Larkin ever wrote, including the dregs that Larkin himself did not want out there? In which case go for Burnett. Given that Larkin was strict with himself about what he wanted to put out, it seems to me that the Burnett book is in a sense voyeuristic. So I chose Thwaite, and I am glad I did.

Perhaps Larkin has been somewhat overlooked because he wrote in rhymed verse and the past century has been increasingly focused on free verse. I generally favor free verse, myself, but Larkin's skill at rhyme is such that it is always unobtrusive, never strained or forced, and sometimes. But, his modernity is indisputable, combining, and perhaps exceeding, the humanity of Auden as well as the perspicacity of Eliot. His is clearly a concise body of work, but it is large in its range and insight. Larkin's poems often express an thought or feeling that the reader will recognize as a part of his own experience, finally put into words with the utmost clarity. He played his "tennis" with the net, but remained distinctly modern.

Excellent Collection of Poems by Philip Larkin - Essential Reading !

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Philip Larkin is one of the most widely read and best-loved poets of the English speaking world. This may be due to the accessibility of his poems which, in spite of their metrical intricacies and subtle construction, often appear colloquial and do not shun even strong language. A thought entrusted to a friend or lover at night, a witty if dejected remark about life in a pub just before curfew - such are the scenes, in which the poems could be placed. A recurrent theme of many poems is the uneasiness of being: The astonishing fact that man finds it hard to define his place in life (Ignorance), the difficulty of finding a place that could rightfully be called home (Places, Loved Ones), the strong wish to be alone (Wants). Profound sadness cloaks much of Larkin's oeuvre, and wisdom springing from defeat is at the heart of the poem's sad profundity. Philip Larkin is a master of many lyrical forms. Formal constructions like sonnets (e.g. Spring) or quatrains in couplets (Money, Cut Grass) alternate with less well defined but usually rhymed forms. Philip Larkin's slender and yet encompassing oeuvre is one of the must reads in poetry. It is one of the collections of poems I frequently turn to for consolation.

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Tutto perfetto! Gran bella edizione, non me l'aspettavo! Un autore tutto da scoprire, nell'immaginario di un mondo ormai svuotato di poesia.