A Scene From Married Life

This poem seems to be about how Abse has a fierce argument with his wife and is reflecting on it.
The way he describes his surroundings is similar to a movie, with extreme imagery being used in a few places, like “ghosts and psychopomps raised black fangs” and “So many boats it had torn asunder”. I also like how he compares their arguments with the Cold War – it really gives the reader an idea of the tension and the pressure that Abse must be feeling.

He also uses the phrase “resentful wedlock.” Which might indicate that Abse might regret the decision of getting married, however he mentions that they “sweet the armistice, each kiss…” showing that they always sort out their differences and are able to put it behind them.

This poem is quite similar to Talking in Bed in a sense that it shows a difficult relationship between the persona and his wife.

The Malham Bird

This poem is about Abse’s newly-formed relationship with his wife. We can draw a conclusion that the persona is Abse, due to the fact that he mentions that he is a Jew and that she is a Gentile (not Jewish).

In the second stanza, he mentions their first ‘illicit holiday’, with illicit meaning that it is forbidden, it could mean that their love is forbidden – possibly due to the difference in beliefs. His reminiscing continues into the third stanza in which he recalls a ‘friendly gull’ swooping down close to them.

In the fourth stanza, he looks back on it from the present day, stating that he has three grandchildren.

The rhyme scheme in this poem has an A-B-C-C structure, with a rhyme every 3^rd and 4^th line. The themes here are love and memory, which makes me think of the Whitsun Weddings slightly, due to the imagery of new love and newlyweds. However, this poem is the opposite to what we expect from Larkin, since he is never open about his feelings or emotions.

Last Visit to 198 Cathedral Road

In this poem, Abse visits the ground-floor flat in which his deceased parents once lived. He says that when he entered, he didn’t know why he “sat in the dark” or took out his surgeon’s pocket-torch (with himself being a doctor) and “hosed the objects of the living room with its freakish light”. This could be down to the fact that he is so overcome with emotion and grief of the loss of his parents that he simply doesn’t know what to do with himself.

He mentions that it isn’t a living room; more a dying room – this could indicate that for the duration of his time in the room, all he can think of is the death of his parents. However, when he shines his light over certain objects, they seem to come to life due to his use of personification.
This is shown when he describes the “awakened empty fruit bowl”, “four-legged table in a fright”, “vase that yawned hideously” and the “pattern that ran up the curtain, took flight to the long, wriggling, photophobic crack in the ceiling.” Suddenly, the entire room appears to spring up and become alive, until he returns it to darkness; he also says that the room is out of breath and listened. I think that the message Abse is trying to get across here is that a home is only truly alive when somebody is in it.

The poem has no set rhyme scheme at all and is entirely varied throughout the stanzas. The poem reminds me of Home Is So Sad, due to the link between the loss of parents, as well as the 'emptiness' of rooms.