Ambulances by Philip Larkin
This poem shows us the journey of life to death. It follows for of a philosophical route rather than a story like form. It takes a very religious turn, linking in religion to the then modern form of medicine. Larkin looks in depth into the meaning of life and the implications of death and how it leaves us. He also looks at how the parting of one person can destroy the 'fabric of society'.
The first stanza describes to us the route that the ambulances takes and how it, or death, can come knocking on anyone's door. In the second stanza, we see a very domestic lifestyle, like life is still going on, despite the arrival of the ambulance. Stanza three is where Larking begins to look into the meaning of death and how people are reminded by the arrival of the ambulance that death is inevitable and no matter what faith you have, you will die. The fourth stanza emphasises on loss and how death can affect people around those who have past and how sudden it can be. IN the final stanza, Larking shows us how people are all woven into each other, forming the great fabric of life in the society and how when just one thread is removed, the whole thing can fall apart.
The poem is a representation of death. The ambulance is death. In stanza 1, Larkin mentions how the ambulance can come to rest at any kreb. This conveys the randomness of the ambulance and thus the randomness of death. Larkin also mentions how "All streets in time are visited", what Larkin means by this is that death in inevitable, because the day you die an ambulance will pick you up, you cannot escape death. Larkin also presents the idea that generally people forget about death, larkin conveys how once death appears around someone's life there is a morbid fascination with it because it seems so strange. Larkin then mentions how these "onlookers" realise the "emptiness That lies just under all we do" and for a moment understand that life has only one certainty; death. Larkin then begins to describe the idea that once you are dead, your body is just an ordinary object. Larkin describes a body being taken away by an ambulance with the word "it" this suggest how Larkin feels this corpse has no meaning , just like any ordinary inanimate object it is being "stowed" suggesting Larkin feels that the corpse is being shut away, just like a piece of cargo.
Three quotes that stood out for me are as follows:
"They come to rest at any kerb:"
""Poor soul/They whisper at their own distress;"
"Far/From the exchange of love to lie/Unreachable inside a room"
The first stanza describes to us the route that the ambulances takes and how it, or death, can come knocking on anyone's door. In the second stanza, we see a very domestic lifestyle, like life is still going on, despite the arrival of the ambulance. Stanza three is where Larking begins to look into the meaning of death and how people are reminded by the arrival of the ambulance that death is inevitable and no matter what faith you have, you will die. The fourth stanza emphasises on loss and how death can affect people around those who have past and how sudden it can be. IN the final stanza, Larking shows us how people are all woven into each other, forming the great fabric of life in the society and how when just one thread is removed, the whole thing can fall apart.
The poem is a representation of death. The ambulance is death. In stanza 1, Larkin mentions how the ambulance can come to rest at any kreb. This conveys the randomness of the ambulance and thus the randomness of death. Larkin also mentions how "All streets in time are visited", what Larkin means by this is that death in inevitable, because the day you die an ambulance will pick you up, you cannot escape death. Larkin also presents the idea that generally people forget about death, larkin conveys how once death appears around someone's life there is a morbid fascination with it because it seems so strange. Larkin then mentions how these "onlookers" realise the "emptiness That lies just under all we do" and for a moment understand that life has only one certainty; death. Larkin then begins to describe the idea that once you are dead, your body is just an ordinary object. Larkin describes a body being taken away by an ambulance with the word "it" this suggest how Larkin feels this corpse has no meaning , just like any ordinary inanimate object it is being "stowed" suggesting Larkin feels that the corpse is being shut away, just like a piece of cargo.
Three quotes that stood out for me are as follows:
"They come to rest at any kerb:"
""Poor soul/They whisper at their own distress;"
"Far/From the exchange of love to lie/Unreachable inside a room"
Four good entries so far. Great record of the significance of language features and the techniques Larkin uses to communicate these in his poems. Make sure you keep up to date with the poems to save you having to do lots at once.
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