Philip larkin - famous poems
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Philip Arthur Larkin (1922 - 1985):
Poet, writer and librarian
Philip Arthur Larkin was born on 9 August 1922 in Coventry, the only son Eva and Sydney Larkin. He attended the City's King Henry VIII School between 1930 and 1940 where he helped to edit the school magazine, The Coventrian. He went to St. John's College, Oxford, graduating in 1943 with a First Class Honours in English.
The first of his poems, Ultimatum, was published in The Listener in November 1940, and in June 1943, three of his poems were published in Oxford Poetry. In November 1953 he was appointed Librarian at Wellington, Shropshire. In 1945, ten of his poems, which later that year would be included in The North Ship, appeared in Poetry from Oxford in Wartime. Two novels, Jill and A Girl in Winter were published in 1946 and 1947 respectively.
In 1946, Larkin was appointed assistant Librarian at the University College of Leicester and in October 1950, he became Sub-Librarian at Queen's University, Belfast, where, in 1951, he privately published a small collection, XX Poems. His clos
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Philip Larkin
Philip Larkin was born in Coventry, England, on August 9, 1922. He attended St. John’s College, Oxford. His first book of poetry, The North Ship (Fortune), was published in 1945 and, though not particularly strong on its own, is notable insofar as certain passages foreshadow the unique sensibility and maturity that characterizes his later work.
In 1946, Larkin discovered the poetry of Thomas Hardy and became a great admirer of his poetry, learning from Hardy how to make the commonplace and often dreary details of his life the basis for extremely tough, unsparing, and memorable poems. With his second volume of poetry, The Less Deceived (Marvell Press, 1955), he became the preeminent poet of his generation and a leading voice of what came to be called “The Movement,” a group of young English writers who rejected the prevailing fashion for Neo-Romantic writing in the style of W. B. Yeats and Dylan Thomas. Like Hardy, Larkin focused on intense personal emotion but strictly avoided sentimentality or self-pity.
In 1964, Larkin confirmed his reputation a
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Career:
The first of his poems to be published in a national weekly was 'Ultimatum', which appeared in the Listener, November 28, 1940. Then in June 1943, three of his poems were published in Oxford Poetry (1942-43) .
He was ppointed Librarian at Wellington, Shropshire, in November of 1943. Here, he studied to qualify as a professional librarian, but continued to write and publish. In 1945, ten of his poems, which later that year would be included in The North Ship, appeared in Poetry from Oxford in Wartime. Two novels, Jill and A Girl in Winter were published in 1946 and 1947 respectively.
In October 1955 The Less Deceived was published. It was this collection that would be the foundation of his reputation as one of the foremost figures in 20th Century poetry. It wasn't until 1964 that his next collection, The Whitsun Weddings was published. Again, the collection was well received, and widely acclaimed, and the following year, Larkin was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.
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