For Sally Amis
Tightly-folded bud,
I have wished you something
None of the others would:
Not the usual stuff
About being beautiful,
Or running off a spring
Of innocence and love —
They will all wish you that,
And should it prove possible,
Well, you’re a lucky girl.
But if it shouldn’t, then
May you be ordinary;
Have, like other women,
An average of talents:
Not ugly, not good-looking,
Nothing uncustomary
To pull you off your balance,
That, unworkable itself,
Stops all the rest from working.
In fact, may you be dull —
If that is what a skilled,
Vigilant, flexible,
Unemphasised, enthralled
Catching of happiness is called.
Please explore your thoughts on the poem in a discussion with each other here.
In this poem, Philip Larkin talks about wishes for a child, and how he wishes her nothing special. He wishes her to be normal. But my question is what is normal? Am I normal? Is everybody normal? And because everyone is special, does that mean having a specific talent is normal? I think with this Philip Larkin was meaning she would be nothing special, 'not ugly, not good-looking'. I would always wish a baby to be beautiful and talented, so maybe Larkin was just bitter, or maybe there was a deeper meaning to his words?
ReplyDelete-Imogen-
I feel that Philip Larkin wrote this poem in bitterness, because after what we found out about him, that he hated women, surely he wouldn't like this baby (who was a girl). I think that in the poem, he says,'i have wished you something none of the others would, which indicates that he doesn't want her to be like the rest, and he is telling her to be normal, like Imogen saiD. For some reason, i think he is jealous of the baby, because he is odd and weird, so he wishes the baby to be odd like him.
ReplyDeleteJess
(Part I)
ReplyDeleteAfter last week's lesson, I wrote down something like this:
As I read this poem, I can't help but feel it's like Larkin is trying to guide the person he is speaking to, convey his hopes for their future yet not burden them with his dreams and ideals as to how they should grow up.
So, the first few words - "tightly-folded bud" somehow give me the image, of a pudgy, new-born baby wrapped in blankets.
Then he says "none of the usual stuff" - since I was born, there have been no other babies born into our family, so I can't say I 'speak from experience' but I've watched enough movies to know that people always seem to feel the need to babble on about how they wish the baby beauty, love, wealth; blah blah blah. Or, as is in the poem "a spring of innocence and love" and I get the feeling that this is what Larkin describes as "usual stuff" (good man :D)
So, don't shoot me when I say this, but the chances of a baby actually achieving some of the stuff their parents initially want them to - become a lawyer, politician, civil rights activist, businessman, etc. - are actually very slim. Few people can see - realistically - what a baby will turn out as when it's just a bundle of chubby, pinkish cuteness.
And it seems (to me, at least) like Larkin realises that, and in the second stanza actually goes on to say what he really wants for the newborn:
If she won't be incredible or special, then he wishes her to be "ordinary" and to possess an "average of talents". I'm not really sure what an "average of talents" for a woman is from a man's perspective, but I would assume he means for her to be able to cook, clean, saw, and the other stuff that men, for some reason, seem adverse to doing. (I mean no offense to men - it's just an observation)
"Nothing uncustomary/To pull you off your balance" I believe he implies that when we have too much of what we believe 'good' - good looks, money, good job, etc. We become unbalanced, to the point where we can't appreciate life anymore.
So he goes on to say "may you be dull" and lists "vigilant" (alert, mindful of danger) "flexible" (adaptable to change) "unemphasised" (modest) and "enthralled" (spellbound)
and the last line: "Catching of happiness is called" - so he links all the former adjectives to the word "dull" and my interpretation (note: MY and INTERPRETATION - I don't know that's correct, it's just what I believe he meant to say) of it is that he says that when you are dull, you are happy. Because he does not portray 'dull' as a trait of a person, but more as a way of achieving happiness - like we are often told that a homeless man can be the happiest man on Earth, whereas the businessman who passes him every day and has six figures on his bank account can be incredibly miserable.
Almost as if he's trying to say that it's not the quality of our life that supposedly makes us happy, but how we live the life we have.
(Going to stop here ‘cause apparently there’s a word limit on the comments, so evil thing won’t let me post the entire thing. Grrr.)
-Matylda
(Part II)
ReplyDelete~ Now, after Friday's lesson, I realise that the above was fairly inaccurate, and after reading through the poem several more times, I have to (at least partly) agree with Julie's point of Larkin being rather sarcastic. Especially that "Well, you're a lucky girl." - Attitude much!
On a more serious note, I feel like there's also a tone of resignation...
It's like "*sigh* So if you can't be beautiful or extraordinary, then just be dull, like all the other women, but at least be HAPPY!!" It's like he realises that her being somebody incredible was rather unlikely, regardless of her background, and he's accepted it.
Yet, overall, I think that the true message of the poem is actually in the second stanza, and he is actually being honest and serious when he wishes for her to be dull. I say that because, often, people who in any way stick out from the crowd can actually suffer more than the 'dull' people. If they're too pretty, people will say that they must be dumb. If they're too social, people will say they're just attention seeking. If they're too tallfatskinnyblondfunnykindfriendlyprettyrich- too ANYTHING that will make them stick out from the crowd, people will pick on them.
So, by being dull and mediocre, you are more likely to achieve happiness - whatever that might mean for you - as there will be less things to 'throw you off your balance'.
Yeah.
That.
And I just realised that there's a sort of double-meaning to the title as well - "Born Yesterday" can either refer to the fact that he wrote the poem for the newborn Sally,
OR
It can be used to describe someone who is clueless about the world... Hm.
That's it.
Honestly this time :)
-Matylda
Firstly, when I read this poem I thought the 'speaker' was outlining his wishes and hopes for this new child, even though it wasn't his own. You would begin to think that what reason does he have to wish things for this child when he is just telling her to be ordinary and nothing special. He strongly opinionated that she would be embracing happiness best by being 'dull' and having average talents. As Sally, was his friends' new born daughter your expectations for his wishes for her would be that she would turn out to have a great life and be unique,in a way. However, as we found out later on,Larkin was a 'woman hater' so maybe that was why he drew a line to the limits of her happiness. I think the way he said ''I have wished you something,None of the others would'' made it sound like he was the only one that cared about her future and that he is the only one giving her good advice. When I read this poem I thought that he was trying to drag her down instead of wishing her to be different because he could have been implying that the people who stick out of the crowd or if they are the centre of attention usually are targeted more than the 'ordinary' people. The title is also a play on words because the poem was written right after Sally's birth, but "Born Yesterday" is also a phrase used to describe someone who is clueless. He mentions that he's telling her things that no-one will ever say and the rest are just wishing her to be beautiful or telling her to lead a good life in general so he rejects this idea. This is where the phrase 'Born Yesterday' comes in because he makes it sound as though the rest have no idea what they are saying. In my opinion, he can't really say that because he has no personal experience himself with children. If he did, his wishes for Sally would be really different.
ReplyDelete-Rubika
When I first read the poem I honestly thought it had a really kind and caring feel to it. This is because Larkin seemed to be saying that everyone will wish you (Sally Amis) to be beautiful and pure and if you do end up being like that then great as not many people are; so you should consider your self lucky.
ReplyDeleteThen in the second stanza he talks about the fact that if you aren't all these things that everyone wanted you to be, then that's great too. If you're completely ordinary then you are just as good as the extra-ordinary people and as long as you are happy then nothing else matters. So I assumed that the poem was a lovely thing to say about a newborn child!!
However when we looked at the poem in class and discovered that Larkin was actually a woman hater who was addicted to porn and frankly a bit of a weirdo; it made no sense for him to write a loving poem to his friend's daughter, unless he fancied her or something (as i said he was weird so you never know). So it made the poem seem a little bit sarcastic 'Well you're a lucky girl' and 'In fact may you be dull'. Later on in Sally's life she actually really struggled and was depressed, which is quite ironic as Larkin's poem hinted at dragging her down from a young age. Maybe the reason why sally was so troubled was to do with the overall message of Larkin's poem to her?
Rachel
I think that when I first read the poem Philip Larkin was writing to his own child and telling them that if they aren't beautiful they can still be happy, and later on in the poem it says of you are ordinary you may just leave an easier life because you have other talents and aphid are still happy.
ReplyDeleteAfter I found more about the poem I realise that Philip Larkin is really trying to say if you are an ordinary woman you will live an ordinary life (in relation to English rose) however because this poem is written about Sally Anis, I think that he is really wishing her a happy life no matter what she looks like, and just wants her to be ordinary, loved and happy and I think this is a sad wish because her life turned out to be anything but happy and beautiful.
I feel that this poem was written because of Phillip Larkin's history with women. I find it a bit weird that he was writing this about his good friends young daughter but I think Larkin was a bit weird. Its almost as if he has written this poem knowing how she turns out and that is what makes this poem so ironic to me. I don't really like the poem as I find it too sarcastic and bitter (now that we have had Fridays lesson) however I think its quite different and interesting so that's one thing I like about it.
ReplyDeleteMillie
A tightly folded bud has to flourish sometime, I thought he was saying that if she starts out dull, then she can flourish, because you have to be the bud before the flower. But then his tone also sounds jealous almost sarcastic, he was never a fan of fame or women, so maybe that's the explanation. He was a bitter man who was just like his father. I feel like saying maybe a lot when explaining my thoughts so i'm going to stop before I make anymore crazy assumptions
ReplyDeleteJenny :)
I agree with your bit about the jealousy however I thought of it as being directed to Kingsley Amis as I think he may have been jealous of his best friend starting a family and having the perfect life and is sarcastic at the end as he doesn't care about this girl and doesn't want anything to do with her due to his history with women and the fact his friend got the ideal, traditional lifestyle whilst he was life by himself.
DeleteElizabeth
When i first read the poem i thought that it was a sweet thing, it was saying that you didn't have to anything special because you can be happy anyway. It was like a father talking to his daughter and reassuring her about life.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when talking about the poem in class and after finding out more information about Larkin i realized that my first assumptions were quite far from the truth. Instead of being a sweet few words of advice, instead it was quite sarcastic and mean. his tone seems jealous of the attention the new baby was getting, that alongside his hatred for women. The poem turned out to be quite ironic really because of what happened to Sally Amis and i think that the poem had a double meaning behind it. That being that if you are normal you will be happy and maybe if she listened to his advice then her life may of not turned out how it did.
Katie
Originally, I thought this poem was a bit odd. Why would you want someone to just be dull? Wouldn't you want the best for them? To grow up and develop special talents for things that interest them. That's what I found especially strange about this poem. Then, after hearing other people's opinions in class I discovered that actually, yes, he may be saying to the baby that you do not have to be the best at everything but merely being happy would make you a better person.
ReplyDeleteHowever, after Friday's lesson, I realised how much sarcasm is actually put into the poem and just how much bitterness Larkin felt towards baby Sally. We can see that his misogynistic points of view are very strongly put forward towards the end of the poem.
"Have, like other women,
An average of talents:
Not ugly, not good-looking,"
I think that this part of the poem especially is reflecting his previous unsuccessful history with women. We discussed in the lesson how he saw two women; a 'pretty' woman and an 'ugly' woman, but as he knew he could never get the 'pretty' one, he tried his luck with the second.
I also think there is a hint of irony, as Rachel said, that Sally suffered from depression and eventually committed suicide and actually Larkin seemed to almost set her off by telling her to be nothing special from a very young age.
~Elena
When I read the poem myself in class it seemed to be quite a positive, wishful poem and it seemed to me that the author cared for the child. However, after hearing the author read the poem and by listening to his tone of voice I realised that it was in fact slightly sarcastic. Also, finding out about the personality and attitudes of Larkin made me look at the poem from a different perspective- one of bitterness. Since discovering that he was sexist with little/no respect for women he may be writing the poem as it to say that the child is a girl so she will grow up to be stupid and have little purpose. He would not have known about Sally Amis' future, so the poem seems scarily accurate as he wishes her nothing positive, but only to be dull and possibly talentless. I'm not sure whether the poem did have an affect on her, and maybe that was just the way her life was meant to be, but I wonder whether Larkin feels guilty after hearing of her suicide, possibly questioning his poem- although I doubt she read it. The bitterness may have derived from his previous unsuccessful relationships with women which may have played a part in his prejudice views towards them.
ReplyDelete-rhianna
When I first read this poem, I actually thought that what Larkin was saying was really sweet, that he just wanted baby Sally to be happy, but at the same time as seeing that I could sense that underlying tone of almost jealousy, as if he was jealous of her and what she would have. Which is ridiculous. Why be jealous of a baby, an unborn one at that?
ReplyDeleteI think that in an odd sort of way, Larkin jinxed Sally's life by saying all of these things about her being average. She lived a very different life from what, on first look, he seemed to want for her. I thought that was very creepy and I wondered if Larkin had something against Sally being born?
Larkin seems very sarcastic just as it goes into the second stanza and the last line of the first wear he says, 'should it prove possible/well, you're a lucky girl'. There seems to be a lot of venom there and after Friday's lesson where we learnt about Larkin's misogyny which comes through a lot in his poem, we really get to understand his vendetta for women.
I think Larkin was serious though, about it being better for her to be ordinary because after the story about how he would've chosen the 'ugly' girl over the 'pretty' girl, he obviously decided that it would be an easy life to be ordinary rather than someone with everything.
On saying about the somewhat sarcastic sincerity of it, I think that it is a very odd poem and, had she ever read that, I wonder if her life had been led differently, if she would change what she was doing.
~Izzy
When I first read this poem, I thought some of tone used it the poem was quite sarcastic and a bit bitter. He used the 'tightly-folded bud' as a kind of metaphor and had more than one meaning. I thought the flower symbolised as when she grows up she'll blossom into something beautiful and find meaning in her life. Although this poem is rather odd because we didn't really know what Larkin was like. He used pretty cliché wording that you'd usually find someone saying to a new born baby. I didn't quite understand what he was saying at points like talking of 'average talent' could range. He could be stating that women were only good for housework, or could mean something more happy. The second stanza was more bitter than the first.
ReplyDeleteAfter finding out more about Sally and Larkin I became judgemental towards him. However knowing what the poem really means is very interesting. Its really weird to read everyone's before and after thoughts because not many people got Larkin's poem at the beginning, but finding out what he was like definitely changed the tune of the thoughts about this poem.
Julie
At first this poem seemed really positive, in the way that Philip Larkin was expressing good feelings towards the girl and for her to have a happy life. It seemed like he was being sweet, because of the way he wanted something different for this girl. I got the idea that he was trying to put across that happiness doesn't have to be shown the usual way. I presumed he was telling her to be who she is, and that she doesn't need to be the most beautiful, or the ugliest, to be noticed and to be perfect.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when looked at closely, I realised that some points seemed very sarcastic. The way he said 'They will all wish you that, And should it prove possible' almost felt bitter, like he is being different but maybe in a not so good way...? I also got the impression that maybe he didn't want her to be beautiful and have a happy life. He ends Stanza 1 with 'Well, you're a lucky girl', as if maybe he never thinks she can be happy? Like, only the luckiest people get the best, and so you should be pleased as you are.
The words 'Tightly-folded bud' also showed a sign of protection, or that maybe this girl Sally was or will be hiding in her own shell, and that she needs to break it. Or blossom up to be whoever she is, and not complain about being the best or the worst because only the luckiest people are.
Overall, in some senses I see how he uses sarcastic tone to hide the negativity in his thoughts, but in some parts it generally comes across as if he means it. To him, even being dull can make you happy, which seems to me like he's thinking, you can always be happy, no matter what's happening in your life or who you are and your personality.
I think it's almost strange, how he wrote this before Sally was born and then she led a terrible life. It almost proved his point that seeming as the best to everyone else, doesn't lead you to happiness and doesn't point to success. He's almost right in the sense that if your ordinary, you're not afraid of what you're doing and you're not noticed in a bad way. Because if you're homeless or ugly, you're noticed as being like that, and the same with if you're a celebrity and you're known for whatever you're famous in. But being ordinary means you're not pressured by society and people around you, and in some aspects I see this idea reflected in the poem. That maybe he does want the best for her, but at the same time is being sarcastic about how you can't always get lucky and that he won't wish her the best like everyone else because he simply doesn't want to, or doesn't care.
I think the poem is different from poems I've read before because you can see it from many different views, but it is also hard to understand what views are right and wrong because there are so many different parts to it. It all depends on the way you see the poem, and I think depending on you are, you either see the negative side or the positive side.
~Alice~
When I first read this poem by Philip Larkin in class, I thought it was a very caring and happy poem. I thought that the poem represented individuality and being special. To me Larkin was saying that if everyone wishes for beauty, its a common trait, however, if you wish for averageness, then that is true beauty. I liked the poem, but the man reading it, made me like it less, and I understood the tone of voice the poem was meant to be read in. The reader read the poem in quite a dull, sarcastic and mono tonal way, this showed me that the poem was also quite dull, sarcastic and mono tonal. After discussing the poem in class, and hearing everybody else's thoughts and opinions on the poem, I saw how it might be perceived by different people. I liked the way the poem hid different meanings, but I was slightly torn between many different opinions I had on the poem. When we heard about the context of the poem and Larkin, I started to think that the poem was quite misogynistic and he was wishing to for a boring life for the baby girl.
ReplyDelete-Georgie-
When I first read this poem, I thought it was about encouragement and wishes for the future and was a similar poem to what we wrote in class to an unborn child. We included things like "you don't need to be beautiful to be happy" etc.. This poem seemed happy and encouraging. After re reading it a couple of times, I noticed it had a sarcastic twist to it and had some elements bitterness in it. The main sarcasm was when it said "you're a lucky girl." It has a change of tone. Between the two stanzas, there is a different tone too. The odd part is that the poem is saying to be dull and its okay to be dull which is not quite right. I think he is talking about females like this because he hasn't had a good experience with them in the past and he is a misogynist. The poem could be interpreted in many different ways and the way I see it, he is portraying the good things, as well as the bad things in life, however the bitterness is quote prominent.
ReplyDelete-Sakina
*quite
Delete-Sakina
Initially, I thought of the poem as being something really special and similar to what we did in class. I thought that Larkin was just expressing his hopes and wishes for the unborn/new-born child because he kept on saying what he wished for the child to have and that it 'wasn't the usual stuff'... That's why when he said that he wished for her to be dull and have 'average' talents, I thought 'well, he's a man of his word' but the truth was that I was so confused. I mean, you wish for a new baby to be happy, rich, loyal, good to be around but Larkin said for Sally to be dull and to not 'stand out'. He even went as far as to say that Sally ought to just be 'normal'. AND WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN??? I guess, he was just trying to be realistic as, after all, most things stay dreams. In his words, I kind of made up my own personal meanings. I thought of it, can't believe I'm saying this now, but as a parent and what I would wish for my child:
ReplyDeleteA happy life where the child is accepting his/her personality, looks, life and just everything to do with them, for who and what they are.
The child is at peace and has no problems with their life and how they are.
BUT then, in the backdrop, what all a parent really wishes for is happiness... even if it means that the child is mediocre, average, ordinary and, you get the picture right, all they have to be is happy.NO matter what they are like or what life they lead, no child should be sad and that's what I though Larkin meant in his poem.
Coming to my interpretations, I thought of the 1st stanza as being when the child was still in the womb and the 2nd after birth. I got this from 'tightly-folded bud', e.g. foetus in womb, and the title. I assumed that maybe, Larkin was trying to put across his wishes and aspirations for the child, whilst maintaining subtlety about his real feelings. He's saying that she's 'a lucky girl' BUT WHAT DOES HE REALLY MEAN??? Then, in the 2nd stanza, I assumed that he changed his hopes after seeing the child and sort of based his wording on what he saw the future as holding for the girl.
AFTER LAST FRIDAY, I THOUGHT...
that he was a cunning man, a wordplay artist. I still stand by my initial interpretations of the poem, just now with adaptations and alternations to my POV.
I feel now that he is only mocking the child due to his personal life experiences. When he says what others will wish the girl and then stating that 'should it prove possible' she'll be a lucky girl. I thought of him as using the wishes others had to a negative effect for himself. I think he's implying that no matter what others wish her, he knows what she'll turn out to be (as based on personal relationships in the past) and so he says that if those wishes do come true then she will be a lucky girl. In fact, when I looked at the poem with a completely opposite view, I saw whole new meanings of his words come through and just thought that maybe, it wasn't the girl he was mocking but rather, he was displaying his jealousy of her father. The jealousy that despite such efforts and relationships, he was still alone but his friend was not. He had a family; a traditionally happy, civilised family.His friend had the ideal life that Larkin wished for himself but could never get and so he is using this poem, in effect, to get across his HATRED, and also perhaps misogyny, that now, his friend's life is going to become even happier and fuller because of a female which was something that he, himself, always wished for but could never have.
That (ABOVE) is my post and I am Bawannoor. SOS, I forgot to put it when I commented before:D
DeleteWhen I first read the poem 'Born Yesterday' my first impression was a relative to the child wishing her a different gift to what most people would. I interpreted this as the writer telling Sally Amis as a baby that happiness means more than being 'beautiful' or 'intelligent', as most people stereotype happiness as. Instead he was telling her that happiness is whatever you are and you create the happiness. For example when he writes about happiness being not good looking and uses words such as 'unemphasised' to describe happiness he is showing that happiness does not have to be as positive as people think it is.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when we analysed the poem further in class I saw it in a completely different way. He seems as if he is being sarcastic about happiness being brought upon her as if he believes that she will not be happy in her life. Also, he talks about everyone wishing her the same things e.g 'beautifull' or 'innocent' and 'love' and he says it in a very sarcastic way as if he is being optimistic about the situation. After looking at his situation in life the poem 'Born yesterday' gives me a sense as if he was never wished to be all these things or was never happy and thought Sally was going to turn out the same as him so the poem was a warning for her.
-Rebecca
When I first read this poem, I too thought it was like our letters to an unborn child wishing them to be happy and have a good life. However I thought it was trying to be different as the second stanza had things like 'May you be ordinary' and 'Catching of happiness' I thought it was saying not to worry if you'r not pretty, but just to be happy.
ReplyDeleteHowever after a second read and a class discussion, with knowledge of Philip Larkin it seemed like he was sarcastic especially after the volta/ change of tone in the second stanza which seemed quite bitter like it was saying don't bother being special just be ordinary in quite a acrimonious and sarcastic way. I think this might be because he was a misogynist and against females since he had had bad experiences with them in the past.
-Niamh Cunningham
When I first read this poem, I thought that Philip Larkin just wanted to be different to other people wishing the child something unusual to turn out good as the child grows swiftly, a quality of being unique. The way he said that he doesn't want her to be beautiful gave me a thought that she didn't need to be wished that as she already was. I thought that he wanted the child to be dull so that she would gain happiness herself, not being born perfect and have the happiness with her already. Then in the second stanza he writes as if he wants her to have an equal life to what he had, bad luck. The way he has written the poem is as if he knows what is going to happen to Sally and that he wants to keep it that way. The tone Philip Larkin uses shows bitterness and jealousy, probably because he was never lucky with women which turned him to dislike them.
ReplyDelete- Jo
This poem didn’t seem very appealing to me when I first read it and to be honest it still doesn’t. However the background information does intrigue me and give me a whole other perspective to the poem. I didn’t take much notice to the meaning the first time and just thought that Larkin was wishing this girl well and that she does not need to be majorly talented or beautiful in looks to be happy, but can be the perhaps not so good looking and a boring type to still achieve happiness. But then I tried to take another look at it.
ReplyDeleteI thought this poem was about a baby: Born Yesterday as a title and Tightly folded bud. Then I thought that from the next bit that this a love poem that the poet wants to make him stand out from all the other people that shower women with compliments like ‘’you’re beautiful’. However may be Philip is not so concerned about outer beauty, maybe this is a poem for women that are not stunningly beautiful or particularly talented. However he then states all the less noticeable, more subtle things which most people would not be aware of, but makes the woman extra special to him and in fact she is the one that can possibly make them both happy.
Background information makes me differentiate from this to believe that this man despises Sally, not just that but has a loathing hate for women, he does not even seem to care for her feelings if she were to read the poem or even respect especially in the last stanza. I am aware he was rather into pornography obviously loosing respect for women and not being much of a ladies man. But I think he just wrote this for his own humor. As if he is almost mocking her about being a beautiful girl that gets all the men but she’s made a waste of her life.
-Nadia
Initially, when I first read this poem, I thought it came across as a poem with a positive tone and a happy message. I felt as if Philip Larkin was portraying his views on growing up, in which he felt being unique was a good thing. There was lines within the first stanza which back up my views. It included things such as, if you're beautiful, well you're a lucky girl, but if you're ordinary thats a good thing too. This suggests that Larkin was writing a poem for the young girl, Sally Amis, as something for her to keep as she grows.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the mood of the first stanza started to change towards the last couple of lines. It adopted a more sarcastic tone and suddenly changed my view on what the poem was really saying and what Larking actually wanted to get across. This continued throughout the second stanza and when we looked at the poem in more detail, in class, I discovered that Larkin wasn't saying anything nice at all, in fact the whole poem was bitter and sarcastic.
We then later learnt, that Larkin was quite a twisted man, who was addicted to pornography and had a hatred and disrespect of women, reflecting the fact that he'd never been in a successful relationship. After learning this, it backed up the sarcastic and bitter tone that appeared towards the end of the first stanza, and contradicted the positive view I first had. It also suggests, that because the poem was written for Sally Amis, it was written to highlight his disrespect of women and his hopes that she didn't have a good life; really written to please himself and 'feed' his hatred of women. Ironically, Sally Amis' life didn't turn out too well, and the overall message of the poem seemed to replicate her life.
- Florence
DeleteAt first when I read this poem, I thought that it was quite a sweet poem. I thought that he was dedicating this nice poem about an unborn baby girl. The first paragraph just seemed so nice that he was saying things like 'beautiful, innocent, lucky girl', because they are all quite nice words that remind people of happiness.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the more we talked about it in class, the more I started to feel like he was an odd old man who was just being sarcastic. For example, the first time he comes across as sarcastic at the end of the first paragraph where he wrote 'They will all wish you that'. This is where it turns into a sarcastic poem bevause he either resents the father because he is jealous or he has another reason for being sarcstic.
It's almost as if he is seeing into the future because Sally Amis does turn out to be almost the opposite of what he is saying at the beginning.
-Lizzie
It seems a lot of people here have been taking 'class' from a rather misguided teacher. 'Finding out' that Larkin was a 'strange' man addicted to pornography who 'hated' women is not the way to analyse the text. It is a way to introduce personal prejudice and distraction, however, which is what it seems to have done.
ReplyDeleteThe poem is not particularly mysterious or complex, in my view. It has a nurturing, simple, kind, but also 'realistic' tone towards the baby, expressed in the first line,
'Tightly folded bud'
which is not sentimental and mawkish, or hostile, but manages at once to be a flower metaphor and genuinely original and beautiful. It is an image of real innocence and beginning, in contrast to the empty, cliched words later in the stanza.
'running off a spring / Of innocence and love...'
In its description of the 'others', the poem calls to mind the public sentimentality of a christening - Sleeping Beauty's particularly. All the fairies wishing beauty and talent on the baby. Larkin plays the part of the bitter, evil fairy. Except that what he wishes isn't death. It's happiness. (This is perhaps reflective of Larkin's bitterness towards the shallow insincerity of society generally, but not the genuinely innocent 'tightly folded bud' before him).
His 'sarcasm' at the end of the first stanza is directed against the norms of the overblown good fairies, who wish for the impossible without realism.
He acknowledges that should their wishes come true the girl will be 'lucky', but his throw away tone
'well you're a lucky girl'
suggests that such perfection is impossible, while in the following stanza
'Nothing uncustomary...that... stops all the rest from working'
points out that acquiring it may be far from lucky. The 'beautiful' are tortured by the pursuit of perfection and the false adulation of the multitude.
'I have wished you something none of the others would... happiness.'
Physical beauty is often taken as a sign of inner innocence, and worshipped accordingly, but is likely to confer the opposite (again, the 'uncustomary' creates 'imbalance').
In the final stanza he wishes, again simply and beautifully, in sympathy with the opening line, that the baby lives an 'ordinary' life, and in so doing learns the 'real' virtues of 'skill... vigilance... flexibility... [modesty]', virtues which are more likely to confer a deep and genuine ('enthralled') 'catching' of the elusive dream of happiness.
Nick
English Literature Graduate (Cambridge University) and Poet