Transcript At Grass by Philip Larkin (pg 30)

At Grass by Philip Larkin (pg 30)
At Grass by Philip Larkin (pg 30)
At Grass
This is a poem about the way growing old affects
our lives. Philip Larkin uses ex-racehorses to
show this. We begin with a peaceful scene where
horses graze in a field before a much more
vibrant, alive series of flashbacks which portrays
the horses in their prime – as winning racehorses.
I see the poem as a sad vision of old age. The
horses represent people too; as we grow old we
become lonelier and more ‘anonymous’ – the
glories of our past are forgotten about.
Subject and Themes
•
•
•
•
Old age
Loneliness
Memories
Loss of the British Empire?
At Grass
the title is a phrase which means to have retired
– when you give up work in old age you are said
to be ‘at grass’
the horses – it is a struggle to see them until
the wind moves their tails or manes – they
are alone and anonymous
The eye can hardly pick them out
From the cold shade they shelter in,
Till wind distresses tail and mane;
Then one crops grass, and moves about
- The other seeming to look on And stands anonymous again
‘distresses’ – meaning moves,
upsets – a harsh verb which
may suggest discomfort
‘yet’ – drive word - changes
mood and setting. Larkin
takes us back to the horses’
glory days.
‘perhaps’ – the narrator is unsure of
when exactly; the inclusion of this
word shows us the horses’ racing days
have been lost in memory
Yet fifteen years ago, perhaps
Two dozen distances sufficed
To fable them : faint afternoons
Of Cups and Stakes and Handicaps,
Whereby their names were artificed
To inlay faded, classic Junes ‘fable’ – to recognise
them as important
‘classic Junes’ – June is the
month when the big races
take place (the derby, Ascot
etc.)
‘sufficed’ – means were sufficient,
enough. The horses may have only
needed to run two dozen races to
make them famous.
list of three different types
of horse racing
competitions
‘artificed to inlay faded’ – artificed
means printed, inlay meaning the
silks on the horses’ backs. Their
names were printed on the silks they
wore on their backs when racing.
sibilance – ‘s’ sound could represent the
buzz of the crowds before a race
‘silks’ – the jockeys wear silks during a
race
Silks at the start : against the sky
Numbers and parasols : outside,
Squadrons of empty cars, and heat,
And littered grass : then the long cry
Hanging unhushed till it subside
To stop-press columns on the street.
the screams and cheering of the crowd hangs in the
air ‘unhushed’ during the race. It then fades
(subsides) and the results are printed in the ‘stoppress’ columns in newspapers
‘numbers’ – the betting that takes
place in the stands
‘parasols’ – the big umbrellas
shielding spectators from the sun
‘squadrons’ – term
associated with the army –
metaphor suggests
everything is well
organised and large in
number
This stanza and the one before it
shows us what a typical horse race
meeting is like. It is written with a
really fast-pace without stops (only
colons and commas are used for
brief pauses). It contrasts with the
slow peaceful setting at the start.
rhetorical question – brings us back to
the present
simile – the memories of the past are
imagine to get in the way like flies do
personification – the horses answer the
question the poet asks – it is as if they
are listening to him. The horses are no
longer aware of their past (unlike
humans)
Do memories plague their ears like flies?
They shake their heads. Dusk brims the shadows.
Summer by summer all stole away,
‘all stole away’ –
meaning their
The starting-gates, the crowd and cries memories are all
All but the unmolesting meadows.
tucked out of mind
Almanacked, their names live; they
‘almanacked’ – recorded in a book;
their names live on in the records
‘unmolesting meadows’ – all that remains
for the horses is the safe meadows in
which they graze. The adjective
‘unmolesting’ is interesting – it maybe
implies that they were harmed in the past
and can now be content?
their racing names have been ‘slipped’ (lost
or shaken off) they are anonymous again
‘stand at ease’ –
another military term –
the horses can now
relax
Have slipped their names, and stand at ease,
Or gallop for what must be joy,
And not a fieldglass sees them home,
‘fieldglass’ – the horses
Or curious stop-watch prophesies :
would have been viewed
Only the grooms, and the groom's boy,
through these binoculars
during the race
With bridles in the evening come.
‘curious stop-watch prophesies’ –
the predictions made by
bookmakers before the race – all
of this must have seemed bizarre
(curious) for the horses
melancholy ending – the horses are still looked
after but now ‘only’ the stable hands look after
them
Links to other poems…
The closest match is probably ‘Old Man, Old
Man’ as both poems focus on how being in
the ‘prime of life’ brings satisfaction and old
age changes things. ‘Warning’ and ‘Mirror’
are also suitable comparisons. If you take
nature as a theme then some of the Heaney
poems would work but this is a much more
difficult comparison to make.
Hints and Tips
This poem can be interpreted in two different ways. I see
it as quite sad because the horses lose their fame and
end up being alone and anonymous. But you could
equally take the opposite view and say the horses are
now truly at rest in their natural environment and are
content and happy without all the fuss being made of
them. Whichever view you have it would be good to
mention both opinions in an exam.
As long as you understand some of the more difficult
words and racing terms I would suggest this is a good
poem to write about in an exam.
Sample Questions
1. How do you think Philip Larkin intends to
portray the horses in the poem?
2. Look again at this poem and one other poem
from that deals with the passing of time.
How is this theme represented in each
poem?