Philip Larkin’s Poetics: Theory and Practice of an English Post-war Poet

In Philip Larkin’s Poetics Istvan D. Racz offers a reading of Larkin’s credo that systematically discusses the links between his principles and practice - a discussion notably absent up to now from the many studies of this outstanding post-1945 British poet. While Larkin claimed that his poetry did not need any explication, Racz argues that a careful reading reveals a coherent poetics. This thoroughgoing discussion of the oeuvre provides ample evidence that Larkin’s poetry of interacting opposites creates a logically organized system based on principles to be found in his poetics.