Influencing Philip Larkin

There are traces of Wilfred Owen’s influence on Philip Larkin in the ways he approaches his subject matter and technique. In many ways, Larkin reflects Owen’s penchant for observing life and how it unfolds. They both touch on the subject of the political reality of England during their lives. However, there are instances that Larkin also stylizes his poetry in the manner of Owen. For example, if we analyze Larkin’s poem “Deceptions,” he begins with a quote. Owen himself included quotes in his poetry such as in his poem “Dulce Et Decorum Est.” While Larkin’s poems reflect his time and his own personality we can see Owen and, to a minor degree, Rupert Brooke’s influences on Larkin.

Larkin indulges in the past and memories from the vantage point of time. In this case, we can see how he is influenced by Owen. We can trace the vivid and graphic historic pictures each poet traces with his words. Owen writes in “Ducle Et Decorum Est,” “In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, / He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.” The words give rise to the tension between life and death and the closeness of it during the war. They also help the reader see the speaker’s perception of memories and his internal struggle. Larkin similarly explores the nature of perception, “Everyone old has dreamed of all their lives — / Bonds and gestures pushed to one side / Like an outdated combine harvester” (“High Windows”). We can see how the speakers of both poems struggle with the past. There is the memory of the past and the trauma of it lingering not far from the speaker’s mind.

Larkin wonders about the direction the government is taking and if the policies it is pursuing are correct. In Owen’s “Disabled” the argument plays out in the manner of how the subject is hauled off to war. Owen writes, “Smiling they wrote his lie; aged nineteen years.” The government uses the boy’s dreams and aspirations against him. They drag him to war before his time by fraudulently manipulating his draft documentation. Owen seems to be making a statement about the ethical morality of the government’s use of power during war. Larkin also notes an ethical shortfall in his government and comments about it in his poem “Homage to a Government.” In the poem, Larkin states, “Next year we are to bring all the soldiers home/ For lack of money, and it is all right.” Larkin channels Owen and is not afraid to call out the government for miscalculations or mishandling of the situation. He treats the subject directly and calls out the government for its misplaced priorities. This is one instance we can trace Owen’s influence on Larkin’s vision.

Another way to find traces of Owen in Larkin’s poems is to compare their treatment of religious themes. In “Apologia Pro Poemate Meo,” Owen explores what it means to draw close to God. He writes, “I, too, saw God through mud — / The mud that cracked on cheeks when wretches smiled.” Owen brings the image of God and religiosity down from a high perch and moves it down to earth — literally. He infers that one can only understand the divine if one suffers with the mud caked on the faces of those who suffer. It is interesting that the traces of God and religiosity in Larkin are treated in a similar manner, if not as dirty. Larkin uses a trip to a church to discuss these themes and, similarly to Owen, Larkin connects it with decay and folly. In his poem “Church Going” Larkin writes about the church, “A shape less recognizable each week… Bored, uninformed, knowing the ghostly silt.” Notice how they both use words such as mud and silt to create a clear demarcation between the supposedly holy and clean and what they perceive those things to be. It is a subtle image of a power fading under the pressures of the modern world.

When it comes to Brooke, there are also traces of his influence on Larkin. Larkin writes about England in an updated style but still draws upon the warm expressions of Englishness in some of his poetry. If we look at Brooke’s poem “The Old Vicarage, Grantchester” we can see a homily to a place the evokes certain emotions of home and the English terrain. Brooke writes, “and THERE the dews / Are soft beneath a morn of gold. / Here tulips bloom as they are told; /Unkempt about those hedges blows.” We can see how Brooke uses images of the flowering countryside to evoke a sense of nostalgia for England. In a similar manner, Larkin evokes images of what it means to be English and uses them to draw the reader into the English world. Larkin, in his poem “Essential Beauty,” write, “There, dark raftered pubs/ Are filled with white-clothed ones from tennis-clubs.” Although Larkin is not necessarily using the beauty of the countryside he is nevertheless using a typical English setting to draw a pattern of Englishness. Larkin’s, like Brooke’s, art imitate life and the world around them to create a sense of home in England.

One can trace Owen’s influence, and to a lesser extent Brooke’s influence, in Larkin’s work by comparing them. On themes like government, religion, and perspective there are traces of Owen in Larkin’s work. He is not afraid to question the political status quo and to address past fears and pains. Like Owen, Larkin is direct and gritty. He is not afraid to bring the holy into the dirt and write about controversial topics. In a manner, one can also see some of Brooke’s influence on Larkin by looking at how he defines and shapes Englishness. There are themes that run through Larkin’s poetry that bring to light the way he views his country and the image he tries to portray about it. Thus, there are traces of both Owen and Brooke in Larkin’s poetry.