Aubabe written by: Philip Larkin
The sure extinction that we travel to
And shall be lost in always. Not to be here,
Not to be anywhere,
And soon; nothing more terrible, nothing more true.
This is a special way of being afraid
No trick dispels. Religion used to try,
That vast, moth-eaten musical brocade
Created to pretend we never die,
And specious stuff that says No rational being
Can fear a thing it will not feel, not seeing
That this is what we fear - no sight, no sound,
No touch or taste or smell, nothing to think with,
Nothing to love or link with,
The anasthetic from which none come round.
AUDIO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTSMH36tIQc&feature=related
After reading this excerpt from Philip Larkin's poem titled, Aubade, meaning "Morning Song," left me feeling that the person in the poem was afraid of dying. Through out the whole poem the poet uses words of longing and darkness. Like he knows that he will die and wants to die, but at the same time is afraid of it the whole ideal of dying. The way that the poet writes the poem kinda just goes on and on about the world of death. Not having anyone to love or smell, taste or touch in which nothing can be as terrible as that.
By using a title that translates into "morning song" it throws off the whole meaning of the poem. When I think of morning song, I think of something as being happy and joyful. Like someone is happy to be alive and would sing in the morning, because they are so happy. But then you read the poem and you realize that the person in the poem is not as happy as you thought it was going to be. The connection between the title of the poem and the actual words in the poem. It is very misleading and hides a different meaning behind the actual meaning of the two. I think the poet wanted to bring the idea of two worlds the one that everyone is joyful and the whole idea of life meaning living. While the actual poem is gloomy and dark, full of the opposites.
There were some words to the poem that when reading made me stop and reread the word again. Words like extinction, trick dispels, musical brocade, specious stuff , national being and anasthetic. All of these words just seemed so out of place and different then what I would have placed there. They give the poem a different sense of purpose then what it is really trying to say. Kinda like the idea of a national being are those of death and extinction. Some people might think the they add symbol to the poem to create a stronger sense of death. While others might think that they are just words.
In all poems words mean something, because their is always meaning behind the meaning of the word it was suppose to mean. Poet are very good at knowning how to play with words so their is always a twist the true meaning that they are trying to bring across. In this poem, I believe that the poet is trying to say that it is the natural of a human being to be afraid of death and that if you do want to die, you are still of the darkness of dying. So the poet tells a story of a man or women who sees the light dimming and is confused about the life after death. The intended audience is all people who are afriad of death and being lonely. Which is everyone in the world, because to live in a world of darkness and alone is like being dead already. One can not see, hear taste, touch or love when living like that.
By using a title that translates into "morning song" it throws off the whole meaning of the poem. When I think of morning song, I think of something as being happy and joyful. Like someone is happy to be alive and would sing in the morning, because they are so happy. But then you read the poem and you realize that the person in the poem is not as happy as you thought it was going to be. The connection between the title of the poem and the actual words in the poem. It is very misleading and hides a different meaning behind the actual meaning of the two. I think the poet wanted to bring the idea of two worlds the one that everyone is joyful and the whole idea of life meaning living. While the actual poem is gloomy and dark, full of the opposites.
There were some words to the poem that when reading made me stop and reread the word again. Words like extinction, trick dispels, musical brocade, specious stuff , national being and anasthetic. All of these words just seemed so out of place and different then what I would have placed there. They give the poem a different sense of purpose then what it is really trying to say. Kinda like the idea of a national being are those of death and extinction. Some people might think the they add symbol to the poem to create a stronger sense of death. While others might think that they are just words.
In all poems words mean something, because their is always meaning behind the meaning of the word it was suppose to mean. Poet are very good at knowning how to play with words so their is always a twist the true meaning that they are trying to bring across. In this poem, I believe that the poet is trying to say that it is the natural of a human being to be afraid of death and that if you do want to die, you are still of the darkness of dying. So the poet tells a story of a man or women who sees the light dimming and is confused about the life after death. The intended audience is all people who are afriad of death and being lonely. Which is everyone in the world, because to live in a world of darkness and alone is like being dead already. One can not see, hear taste, touch or love when living like that.
I really like that you not only provided a picture of the author, but a link to audio as well. This really helps a reader understand what Larkin is trying to convey.
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