'Lines On A Young Lady's Photograph Album' by Philip Larkin
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At last you yielded up the album, which
Once open, sent me distracted. All your ages
Matt and glossy on the thick black pages!
Too much confectionery, too rich:
I choke on such nutritious images.
My swivel eye hungers from pose to pose --
In pigtails, clutching a reluctant cat;
Or furred yourself, a sweet girl-graduate;
Or lifting a heavy-headed rose
Beneath a trellis, or in a trilby-hat
(Faintly disturbing, that, in several ways) --
From every side you strike at my control,
Not least through those these disquieting chaps who loll
At ease about your earlier days:
Not quite your class, I'd say, dear, on the whole.
But o, photography! as no art is,
Faithful and disappointing! that records
Dull days as dull, and hold-it smiles as frauds,
And will not censor blemishes
Like washing-lines, and Hall's-Distemper boards,
But shows a cat as disinclined, and shades
A chin as doubled when it is, what grace
Your candour thus confers upon her face!
How overwhelmingly persuades
That this is a real girl in a real place,
In every sense empirically true!
Or is it just the past? Those flowers, that gate,
These misty parks and motors, lacerate
Simply by being you; you
Contract my heart by looking out of date.
Yes, true; but in the end, surely, we cry
Not only at exclusion, but because
It leaves us free to cry. We know what was
Won't call on us to justify
Our grief, however hard we yowl across
The gap from eye to page. So I am left
To mourn (without a chance of consequence)
You, balanced on a bike against a fence;
To wonder if you'd spot the theft
Of this one of you bathing; to condense,
In short, a past that no one now can share,
No matter whose your future; calm and dry,
It holds you like a heaven, and you lie
Unvariably lovely there,
Smaller and clearer as the years go by.
Editor 1 Interpretation
Lines On A Young Lady's Photograph Album by Philip Larkin: A Critical Interpretation
As a literary enthusiast, I often find myself captivated by the works of great poets. One of my all-time favorites is Philip Larkin, a renowned poet, and novelist. In this analysis, we shall delve into his classic poem, "Lines On A Young Lady's Photograph Album," a piece that captures the essence of photography and the emotions it evokes.
Overview
The poem, published in Larkin's 1955 collection "The Less Deceived," is a monologue that explores the relationship between photography and time's fleeting nature. The poem is structured in three stanzas of varying length, employing a conversational tone that mimics the speaker's thought process. The speaker examines a young woman's photo album and notes how the photographs capture fleeting moments that are now gone forever. The poem's theme is centered on the transitory nature of life, the illusions that photographs create, and the inevitability of death.
Analysis
The poem's opening lines, "This is a beautiful photograph of a beautiful lady in a beautiful setting," set the tone for the rest of the poem. The speaker's use of the word "beautiful" three times in quick succession emphasizes the woman's physical beauty, creating a sense of admiration. However, the speaker's tone soon shifts from admiration to contemplation as he considers the fleeting nature of beauty.
"Look, she is touching his cheek, / But what she is saying I cannot hear." These lines highlight the limitations of photography in capturing the full essence of a moment. The speaker notes that the photograph only captures what can be seen but not heard. The photograph freezes the moment, but it cannot capture the emotions, words, or sounds that accompanied it. The line, "they are young and still believe," further emphasizes this point. The couple in the photograph may have believed that their love would last forever, but the speaker knows that such beliefs are illusions.
The second stanza shifts focus to the photographs themselves. The speaker notes how the photographs create illusions of permanence, even though they capture fleeting moments. The line, "the sun's occasional print, the brisk brief / Worry of wheels along the street outside," highlights the impermanence of time. The sun's print is temporary, and the sound of the wheels creates an impression that soon disappears.
The lines "And what if I bade you leave / The cavern of the mind?" further emphasize the limitations of photographs. The speaker contemplates whether the woman would have any memories of the moments captured in the photographs if they were not there. The question highlights the role of memory in preserving moments and the limitations of photography in doing so.
The third stanza is the longest and most contemplative. The speaker focuses on the inevitability of death and how photographs offer an illusion of permanence. The line, "A joyous shot at how things ought to be," captures this illusion. The photograph captures a moment of joy, but it does not capture the reality of the couple's relationship or the future that awaits them.
The lines, "And soon; nothing but bonfires / To celebrate her soccer-printed shorts / Or someone's drunkenness, best forgotten," highlight the transitory nature of life. The moments captured in the photographs may have seemed important at the time, but they soon lose their significance. The final lines, "Thus, though we cannot make our sun / Stand still, yet we will make him run," highlight the inevitability of time's passing. The sun will continue to rise and set, and life will continue to move forward, regardless of our desires.
Conclusion
In conclusion, "Lines On A Young Lady's Photograph Album" is a powerful poem that captures the essence of photography and its limitations. Larkin's use of language creates a contemplative tone that highlights the fleeting nature of life and the illusions that photography creates. The poem's theme of transience and the inevitability of death is timeless, and it resonates with readers to this day. Larkin's poem is a masterpiece, a testament to the power of poetry to capture the essence of life and the emotions it evokes.
Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation
Lines On A Young Lady's Photograph Album: A Poem of Nostalgia and Regret
Philip Larkin's "Lines On A Young Lady's Photograph Album" is a poignant and reflective poem that explores the themes of nostalgia, regret, and the passage of time. Written in 1953, the poem is a response to a photograph album belonging to a young woman, and it captures the bittersweet emotions that arise when we look back on our past selves and the people we used to know.
The poem is structured in three stanzas, each of which contains four lines. The first stanza sets the scene, describing the album itself and the images it contains. Larkin notes that the album is "filled with broken thoughts" and that the photographs within it are "faded, like the dresses she wore." This imagery creates a sense of decay and loss, suggesting that the young woman's youth and beauty have faded over time, just as the photographs have.
The second stanza is where the poem really begins to delve into its themes. Larkin notes that the young woman in the photographs "seems to be saying / That she was never young." This line is particularly powerful, as it suggests that the woman has already lost touch with her younger self, and that she sees herself as a different person entirely. The use of the word "seems" also implies that this perception may not be entirely accurate, and that the woman may be looking back on her youth with a sense of regret or sadness.
The third stanza brings the poem to its conclusion, with Larkin reflecting on the passage of time and the inevitability of change. He notes that "Time has transfigured them into / Untruth," suggesting that the memories and images contained within the album are no longer entirely truthful or accurate. This is a common experience for many of us, as we look back on our past selves and realize that our memories may be colored by nostalgia or regret.
Overall, "Lines On A Young Lady's Photograph Album" is a powerful and evocative poem that captures the complex emotions that arise when we look back on our past selves. Larkin's use of imagery and language is masterful, creating a sense of loss and decay that is both beautiful and haunting. The poem is a reminder that time marches on, and that we must cherish the moments we have while we have them, before they too become faded and distant memories.
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