Transcript Philip Larkin – The trees

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1922-1985
Philip Arthur Larkin was born on August 9, 1922, in Coventry. He
was the second child, and only son, of Sydney and Eva Larkin.
Sydney Larkin was City Treasurer between the years 1922-44.
Larkin's sister, some ten years his senior, was called Catherine,
but was known as Kitty.
He attended the City's King Henry VIII School between 1930 and
1940, and made regular contributions to the school magazine,
The Coventrian, which, between 1939 and 1940, he also helped
to edit .
After leaving King Henry VIII, he went to St. John's College,
Oxford, and despite the war (Larkin had failed his army medical
because of his poor eyesight), was able to complete his degree
without interruption, graduating in 1943 with First Class
Honours in English. His closest friends at Oxford were Kingsley
Amis and Bruce Montgomery.
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Larkin received many awards in recognition of his writing,
especially in his later years. In 1975 he was awarded the CBE, and
in 1976 was given the German Shakespeare-Pries. He chaired the
Booker Prize Panel in 1977, was made Companion of Literature in
1978, and served on the Literature Panel of the Arts between 1980
and 1982. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the Library
Association in 1980. In 1982 the University of Hull made him a
Professor.
In 1984 he received an honorary D.Litt. from Oxford University, and
was elected to the Board of the British Library. In December of
1984 he was offered the chance to succeed Sir John Betjeman as
Poet Laureate but declined, being unwilling to accept the high
public profile and associated media attention of the position.
In mid 1985 Larkin was admitted to hospital with an illness in his
throat, and on June 11 an operation was carried out to remove his
oesophagus. His health was deteriorating, and when he was
awarded the much prized Order of the Companion of Honour he
was unable, because of ill health, to attend the investiture, which
was due to take place at Buckingham Palace on November 25. He
received the official notification courtesy of the Royal Mail.
Philip Larkin died of cancer at 1.24 a.m. on Monday December 2
1985. He was 63 years old.
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Philip Larkin's "The Trees" is a twelve-line poem that
seems to compare the life and cycles of a tree to human
experience.
Riddled with personification of leaves, buds, and bark as
spoken words, grief, and countless other abstract items,
each line of the poem draws a connection between the
anatomy and activity of a tree to the emotions and
philosophy of a human closing and opening various
chapters in his or her life.
SIFT through the poem after your first reading:
 Inform us of the intention of the poet and his main ideas
overall;
 Focus on the form (structure/punctuation) and the feelings
conveyed (poet’s attitude/tone used) and how this highlights
the main ideas;
 Specify the subject matter and sense of the poem through a
brief summary;
 Tell us about the techniques, imagery and poetic language
that show the ways themes and ideas are presented.
OR – get FLIRTY with it.
F
L
I
R
1.
2.
3.
4.
T
5.
Y
6.
Focus on the form of the poem , looking at the structure,
punctuation, line lengths and the arrangement of the poem’s
stanzas. How do these features add interest and meaning to the
poem? Also examine the arrangements of the words, phrases and
sentences in the poem.
Examine the language used in the poem, looking at the meaning of
words and whether they have negative or positive connotations.
Look at the techniques, imagery and poetic language that has been
used? How do these techniques bring out the main themes and
ideas in the poem?
How does the poet make use of rhyme, repetition and rhythm? Why
does he do this?
What are the poet’s main ideas that he brings out in the poem and
how does he do this? Explain the feelings that the poet conveys
throughout the poem. Describe the poet’s attitude to his subject.
Does this change as the poem progresses? Carefully examine the
tone throughout the poem and find vocabulary to back up your
discussion.
Why has this been written? What relevance does it have? How do
you react to this poem? Does it bring any particular thoughts to
mind? Which poems would you compare this one with?
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As technical matters go, the twelve lines of the poem are arranged
into four-line stanzas.
In each stanza, the first and fourth line rhyme with one another in a
true rhyme pattern (i.e. lines 5 and 8: again, grain) while the second
and third lines work in an additional true rhyme (i.e. lines 6 and 7:
too, new).
In complete, this rhyme scheme appears in the following pattern: A B
B A - C D D C - E F F E. There is also a consistent iambic foot and
tetrameter rhythm. This simply means that the rhythm alternates
between unstressed and stressed syllables, and there is one of each
in each foot. Tetrameter refers to the fact that there are four "feet" in
each line, giving the entire poem a see-saw balance (line 4: "Their
green-ness is a kind of grief").
In lines 9-12, select words are presented to the reader almost as
sound effects (lines 9 and 12: thresh, afresh). These words, when
spoken aloud, can almost sound as the leaves of trees would when
being rustled by the wind. As this poem comments on the passage of
time and a cycle of death and rebirth, could these winds perhaps be
the winds of change?
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On a more figurative level, many perspectives can
be taken from these lines. One possibility is the
old expression that "things are not always as they
seem" and that the answers may lie under the
surface. More likely is the understanding that
although human beings begin new experiences
and new chapters in their lives, their old
experiences will always be with them. It is an
individual's experiences, after all, that make up
who they are! Much like a tree, a person will never
fully lose the years that have passed them by, and
the valuable experience will collect inside them
like rings of grain.
A third and negatively abstract perspective of the lines deals with
the three D's: deceit, disguise, and denial. It speaks to the idea that
though the tree itself does its best to hide the layers of death and
destruction resulting from its natural cycle, there are always other
means of judging its age. For instance, the pure size of a tree will
lend a clue to its current age, as well as the presence of or lack of
vegetation surrounding its base. Similarly, many human beings
choose to partake in age-defying treatments such as botox,
cosmetic surgery, or chemical creams. Still, questions remain. Will
this sort of treatment change the 1950's slang that still manages to
creep into this person's daily conversation, or the myriad of stories
they have to tell about the first Elvis concert they saw? Will this
person's friends all appear as young as they? These are all
questions that can only be answered in the negative. Looking
young and being young can be too very different things, as the
trees would tell you if they truly had the human qualities assigned
to them in this fascinating poem.
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A key phrase in this piece that is worth specific
consideration comes in lines 7 and 8. It reads
"Their yearly trick of looking new/ Is written
down in rings of grain." The literal meaning of
the phrase refers to the growth pattern of a tree:
The growing part of a tree is found at the outer
edges, just under the bark. When one looks at a
cross-section of a trunk, one can see a pattern of
the alternating thick and thin circles of early
wood and late wood, and these are the trees'
growth rings. Although a tree appears to be
reborn and new each Spring, its age and
processes are shown on the inside.
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http://www.philiplarkin.com/links.htm
The essay section on this page has
interesting critical readings on the work of
Larkin.
http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/
singlePoet.do?poetId=7076
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Because I Could Not Stop for Death Emily
Dickinson
Song: Tears, Idle Tears Alfred, Lord Tennyson
The Trees Are Down Charlotte Mew
Compare
Form /
Structure
Language
techniques
Ideas /
Imagery
/themes
Rhyme /
Rhythm
Tone of voice
whY? What
relevance
does the
poem have?
The Trees
The Trees are
Down
Because I
Tears, Idle
Could Not
Tears
Stop for Death
Your options to make the best use of this time:
1. Revise the poetry we have studied – use a
matrix provided OR create your own to
compare similar poems.
2. Re-write poetry / short story essays from the
recent exam
3. Catch up on ANY English Literature homework.
4. Study The Importance of Being Earnest
5. Think outside the square about a creative way
to study or revise, use a computer perhaps, but
check with me first.