Appropriate title poem for the collection Essay

To what extent, in terms of subject matter and style, do you consider ‘High Windows’ to be an appropriate title poem for the collection? High Windows is a collection that deals with several interlinking themes. One of the most obvious is that of windows, which are used throughout the poems as an analogy for reflection, retrospection, observations and external or internal influences. Other themes such as death, religion, youth, sex tradition, society and outside observers also occur frequently throughout the collection. It could be said that the poem High Windows includes and explores many of these themes, and as such provides a good summation of the content of the others. Its form and structure can also be compared to the rest of the collection – Larkin uses some very specific techniques and structural decisions within several of the poems, and High Windows is perhaps one of the best examples of where these techniques are used to the best effect. In High Windows, Larkin employs free verse with a simple rhyme scheme. This could be said to be fairly unusual, as in other poems such as To The Sea he uses very complex rhyme schemes. He often chooses to rhyme between stanzas, and this is clearly a very conscious and crafted decision. Larkin also makes use of traditional poetic forms – for example, The Card-Players takes the form of a sonnet. The fact he has chosen to use free verse could show that High Windows has a modern setting, unlike The Card-Players which is a narrative set around the 17th century. It could also be a suggestion that the collection deals largely with universal and simplistic theme such as life and death, and thus the simplicity of the rhyme scheme epitomises this. Other structural decisions that appear in High Windows can also be seen in other poems. Larkin often uses italics to show that someone other than the main narrator of the poem is speaking. ‘That’ll be the life; no God any more, or sweating in the dark†¦ ‘ is being spoken by someone of the previous generation looking at the speaker in their youth. This also occurs in Sympathy in White Major, which includes such lines as ‘He devoted his life to others’, which seems to be being said by someone at the speaker’s funeral. The Explosion includes italicised lines being spoken by a priest – ‘The dead go on before us†¦ ‘ – and Vers de Societe includes such lines as ‘All solitude is selfish’ and ‘Virtue is social’, which seem to be an outside voice reproaching the speaker for his behaviour. High Windows can thus be clearly compared to other poems that use this technique. By the end of the collection, the use of italics is recognisable. Larkin also often makes use of a ‘final image’ at the end of his poems, something that is meant to sum up the content of the poem. In High Windows, the line ‘Rather than words comes the thought of high windows’ is one of the most memorable. Similarly, The Explosion has the image of the ‘eggs unbroken’, and Money’s entire last verse is occupied by the image of ‘looking down from long french windows†¦ ‘. High Windows is the only one that includes the prelude ‘Rather than words†¦ ‘, and illustrates this technique very well. In this sense, High Windows makes a very appropriate title, both as the title of a poem and as an image. The juxtapositioning between coarse and lyrical language is also present in High Windows, as in various other poems. This coule be said to show the difference between traditional poetic language and more modern poetry. High Windows has a transition from the beginning, and lines such as ‘†¦ I see a couple of kids†¦ ‘ and ‘†¦ I guess he’s fucking her and she’s wearing a diaphragm†¦ ‘, to the end, with lines such as ‘the sun-comprehending glass†¦ ‘ and ‘that shows nothing, and is nowhere, and is endless. ‘ This juxtapositioning is used in This Be The Verse, between ‘They fuck you up, your mum and dad’ and the seemingly out of place ‘†¦ it deepens like a coastal shelf. ‘ Similarly, Sad Steps begins with the image of ‘Groping back to bed after a piss’ and ends with ‘that wide stare is a reminder of the strength and pain of being young’. The theme of observation and looking down through a window is also a common one throughout the collection. The image of High Windows is one that provides an appropriate title, since it could be a metaphor for themes such as reflection upon life, which is clearly prominent in poems such as Sympathy in White Major, Dublinesque and The Explosion. Sad Steps makes use of a similar window metaphor – the speaker seems to have an epiphany after ‘parting thick curtains’ and seeing the moon. The Old Fools also includes mention of ‘lighted windows’ that represent the memories of somone’s life. Money has the image of ‘looking down from long french windows’ at a town that is meant to represent various aspects of life. High Windows also deals with the concept of religion. It suggests that religion was something that older generations were forced to think about when they didn’t want to, and that now, this has been replaced by sex and freedom. The phrase ‘bonds and gestures’ suggests that the speaker believes that religion and other such ‘restraints’ were only meant as a show, and were not really what people believed in. High Windows shows a rather cynical view of religion, suggesting that it no longer matters in modern society. This view is mentioned briefly in The Building as well, with the mention of ‘a locked church’ and the comparision between patients of the hospital and an ‘unseen congregation’. Vers de Societe uses the line ‘playing at goodness, like going to church†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, clearly suggesting that Larkin believes religion to be a shallow waste of time. In this manner, High Windows accurately reflects what appears to be Larkin’s view on religion. However, in poems such as The Explosion, religion is viewed in a very different way – it becomes something that offers hope, and something to be revered. It mentions that the dead men ‘Are sitting in God’s house in comfort’. As this is the final poem in the collection, it could suggest that the actual message Larkin is attempting to convey is one of hope and faith. As High Windows suggests the opposite, it could be considered a misleading title poem. Throughout High Windows, many of the poems explore the theme of young people being somehow ‘separate’ to the older generation. To do this, Larkin often makes use of a speaker who is outside the events of the poem and observing the actions of others. The speaker of High Windows seems to be a middle-aged man looking at teenagers. There is a sense of the cyclic nature of life in this poem, as he also alludes to the fact that someone older than the speaker probably watched him when he was young. This also appears in Annus Mirabilis. The youth of today are often connected with sexual freedom – Larkin is very frank about ‘bonds and gestures pushed to one side’ allow the young to have sex and be more free. This is similar to the ‘sort of bargaining’ mentioned in Annus Mirabilis. This Be The Verse also includes the cyclic nature of life. The speaker claims that ‘Man hands on misery to man’, which suggests that every generation is similar to the last, just slightly different, and this continues throughout all of life. Because High Windows is so similar to many of the other poems and show so well the main themes of the collection, I do think that it is a very appropriate title poem. However, there are also many contradictions within the collection, and so it would be almost impossible to pick one poem that shows every element of the collection. High Windows serves as a good introduction to many of the concepts discussed within the collection, and also paves the way for further exploration of these themes.