#8220;Informative Essay Sample on Philip Larkin and His Poems #8220;

#8220;Informative Essay Sample on Philip Larkin and His Poems #8220; Philip Arthur Larkin was born August 9, 1922 in Coventry England. He attended Saint John’s College, Oxford and graduated with honors in 1943. His first published book of poetry was entitled â€Å"The North Ship,† and released in 1945. Although this book is not considered to be some of his best works in some passages we see glimpses foreshadowing his later more mature style, which showed up in full force with his next volume of poetry called â€Å"The Less Deceived,† published in 1946. This change was accounted to the introduction of Larkin to the poetry of Thomas Hardy who there after became a strong influence in his works from that point on. With this second publishing Larkin became a mar key poet of his generation spearheading a splinter group of poets in what he called â€Å"The Movement.† This was a group of English writers who were disenchanted with the current scene of neo-Romantic writings like that of Yeats and Dylan Thomas. Along with being a respected poet Larkin was also a great fan and critic of American Jazz. His poetry is said to be searing, often mocking, with flagrant wit showing his dark vision of the three universal themes of mortality, love, and human solitude. I feel the two poems I have chosen exemplify some of these traits quit nicely. â€Å"Next, Please† This poem has a steady rhythm which is enhanced by the twelve rhyming couplets in its six quatrains. Upon reading the first stanza and even beyond that this rhyme and rhythm adds to the dark tone. The syntax and use of language also help convey the message of unconquerable doom that I feel is clearly apparent in this poem. Its use of imagery in relationship to the metaphors using commonplace things to describing peoples hopes and aspirations and eventual death I find very interesting and obviously the driving force of the poem. The Rhyme pattern of aa, bb, cc, dd, ee, ff, gg, hh, ii, jj, kk, ll along with the trochaic rhythm seems to move this poem solemnly from couplet to couplet. When one reads it to themselves or aloud theses characteristics seem to develop the poems dramatic theme. The syntax looks to help in the rhyming of the couplets. As shown in lines nine through ten â€Å"Yet still they leave us holding wretched stalk Of disappointment, for, though nothing balks.† The use of enjaments and endstoped lines throughout this poem although tricky for me to perform out loud I find still are an important and crucial in setting the tone and moving this piece along. The tone of this poem is introduced with the first two sentences â€Å"Always too eager for the future, we Pick up bad habits of expectancy. Something is always approaching; every day Till then we say.† Starting out with this bleak statement and then continuing on that path. The tone progresses from there by using the imagery to express the metaphors. The important images are the sparkling armada, which is a metaphor for the good fortune mankind awaits. The wretched stalks we hold being our contempt for those ships that hold our prize the one that we will never get. The ship of hope itself described in lines eleven through fourteen. Finally the last image in the last stanza is where the tone shifts a tad from being dark to now even a bit darker. The one ship that is seeking us, the black sailed ship towing nothing but silence and not even making a break. This image is most noticeably a reference to death. The poem in all is a metaphor sustained from begging to end (characteristics of an allegory) about the hopes people have and how we always wait though they never come to fruition. We wait for all the good we think is owed to us but the only thing that awaits us for sure is quite death. The next poem is â€Å"This Be The Verse,† which is comparatively different from the first poem. For starters there is no ongoing metaphor. The tone of this poem and the meaning are very forefront and out right. It has three stanzas all quatrains, its iambic; the rhyme scheme is ab, ab, cd, cd, ef,ef. I consider the tone of this poem to be a cynical warning about becoming a parent. It essentially says that know matter who you are or how you try you are going to â€Å"embarrass,† your kids up. He talks about how our parents were messed up by their parents by saying of â€Å"fools in old style hats and coats, who half the time were soppy stern and half at one another’s throat.† He uses the simile in line ten comparing the issues that are past down from parent to child â€Å"It deepens like a costal shelf.† With the final line saying what the whole poem insinuates and that is for no one to have any kids themselves. This poem uses strong language, rhyth m and rhyme superbly to get its message across.

Chopping Off Syllables

Chopping Off Syllables Chopping Off Syllables Chopping Off Syllables By Maeve Maddox Heres a fab app for keeping track of your lab info docs, vocab lists, and rehab meds. English speakers have been lopping syllables off words for centuries. And thank goodness for that when it comes to such mouthfuls as taximeter-cabriolet and streptococcus. Id much rather call a cab or a taxi and talk about avoiding strep-throat. I cant help wondering, though, if the English spoken a generation or two in the future will consist of staccato sentences in which words of one and two syllables predominate. Here are some shortenings already in common use: doc document. exam examination fab fabulous graph paragraph info information lab laboratory meds medications op opinion/operative/opportunity promo promotion (with meaning of advertising) prep preparation rehab rehabilitation sax saxophone vac vacuum (Ive also seen it used as a shortened form of vacation, but I dont know how that vac is supposed to be pronounced.) vet veterinarian or veteran vocab vocabulary Some of these shortenings, even the ones I use in my own speech, bother me when I see them in formal writing. Others dont faze me because Ive grown used to them. Thats the way of change in language. What infuriates one generation of speakers is mothers milk to the next. I recall reading a novel written in the early 20th centuryby Booth Tarkington (1869-1946) I thinkin which a young man is chided by one of his parents for using the slangy word lunch instead of luncheon. Nowadays lunch is the common word for a meal between breakfast and supper. The word luncheon has not fallen completely out of use, but has acquired an altered meaning. My associations with luncheon include fussy repasts provided by and for ladies in flowered hats, and SPAM luncheon meat. Is the shortening of words a bad thing? Not necessarily, butdepending upon the intended audiencewriters should probably give some thought to which shortened forms they promote by committing them to print. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Avoid Beginning a Sentence with â€Å"With†Select vs. SelectedHow often is "bimonthly"?