The Poetry Of Philip Larkin: A Study In Long Perspectives

By: S. N. Prasad

The present book is an innovative attempt to give the Philip Larkin criticism a new direction. Early critical writings on Larkin for the most part tried to show him as a provincial poet and his poetic imagination as of a middle-brow kind. However, soon some perceptive readers of his poetry found some of its real value, as a result of which he is now regarded as one of the major British post-modern poets. This book has tried to show that Philip Larkin in his poetry tries to see man in his present existential condition and he sees his future prospects as a species in very long perspectives and, in this respect, besides his many- faceted merit as a true poet, he can and should be seen in the company of great mainstream scientists, philosophers, creative writers and thinkers. Philip Larkin in his major poems aims at giving a therapeutic touch to the ailing human culture. This book has a long INTRODUCTION which tries to show the true origins of man, his physiology and his present psycho-social condition. Views of reputed creative writers, scientists, philosophers and thinkers have been referred to in this connection. In the three middle sections of the book, thirty of Larkin’s poems taken from his three major volumes have been analyzed individually at some length. These analyses reveal some of the very important but hitherto unrevealed aspects of his poetry.

About the Author

The author, S.N.Prasad, M.A., Ph.D. was a retired Professor of English, B.R.A.Bihar University, INDIA. He was a Prof at Sana University. He was Prof and HOD at Hodeida University, and a Republic of Yemen for a total period of over 15 years in several stints. He had published six papers-four in India, one in a British Journal (About Larkin, Journal of the Philip Larkin Society) and one paper, written jointly with a colleague in Yemen, in an online journal.