The Whitsun Weddings (poem)
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The Whitsun Weddings (poem)
"The Whitsun Weddings" is one of the best known poems by British poet Philip Larkin. It was written and rewritten and finally published in the 1964 collection of poems, also called '' The Whitsun Weddings''. It is one of three poems that Larkin wrote about train journeys. The poem comprises eight stanzas of ten lines, making it one of his longest poems. The rhyming scheme is ''a,b,a,b,c,d,e,c,d,e'' (a rhyme scheme similar to that used in various of Keats' odes). Larkin describes a stopping-train journey southwards from Paragon station in Kingston upon Hull, where he was a librarian at the university, on a hot Whit Saturday afternoon. It has always been supposed the poem was based on an actual train journey Larkin made in 1955 on Whitsun Saturday, a day which was popular for weddings at that time though since there was a rail strike on that weekend Larkin scholar John Osborne now thinks the journey an unlikely one to have taken place. Larkin's letters mention two journeys, one to ...
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Philip Larkin
Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, '' The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, '' Jill'' (1946) and '' A Girl in Winter'' (1947), and he came to prominence in 1955 with the publication of his second collection of poems, ''The Less Deceived'', followed by '' The Whitsun Weddings'' (1964) and '' High Windows'' (1974). He contributed to ''The Daily Telegraph'' as its jazz critic from 1961 to 1971, with his articles gathered in ''All What Jazz: A Record Diary 1961–71'' (1985), and edited ''The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse'' (1973). His many honours include the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. He was offered, but declined, the position of Poet Laureate in 1984, following the death of Sir John Betjeman. After graduating from Oxford University in 1943 with a first in English Language and Literature, Larkin became a librarian. It was during the thirty ...
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The Whitsun Weddings (book)
''The Whitsun Weddings'' is a collection of 32 poems by Philip Larkin. It was first published by Faber in the United Kingdom on 28 February 1964. It was a commercial success, by the standards of poetry publication, with the first 4,000 copies being sold within two months. A United States edition appeared some seven months later. It contains many of Larkin's best known poems, such as " The Whitsun Weddings", "Days", " Mr Bleaney", " MCMXIV", and "An Arundel Tomb". Poems * Here * Mr Bleaney * Nothing To Be Said * Love Songs in Age * Naturally the Foundation will Bear Your Expenses * Broadcast * Faith Healing * For Sidney Bechet * Home is so Sad * Toads Revisited * Water * The Whitsun Weddings * Self's the Man * Take One Home for the Kiddies * Days * MCMXIV * Talking in Bed * The Large Cool Store * A Study of Reading Habits * As Bad as a Mile * Ambulances * The Importance of Elsewhere * Sunny Prestatyn * First Sight * Dockery and Son * Ignorance * Reference Back * Wild Oats * ...
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Rhyme Scheme
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other. An example of the ABAB rhyming scheme, from "To Anthea, who may Command him Anything", by Robert Herrick: Function in writing These rhyme patterns have various effects, and can be used to: * Control flow: If every line has the same rhyme (AAAA), the stanza will read as having a very quick flow, whereas a rhyme scheme like ABCABC can be felt to unfold more slowly. * Structure a poems message and thought patterns: For example, a simple couplet with a rhyme scheme of AABB lends itself to simpler direct ideas, because the resolution comes in the very next line. Essentially these couplets can be thought of as self-contained statements. This idea of rhyme schemes reflecting thought processes is often discussed particularly regarding sonnets. * Determine whether ...
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Keats
John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculosis at the age of 25. They were indifferently received in his lifetime, but his fame grew rapidly after his death. By the end of the century, he was placed in the canon of English literature, strongly influencing many writers of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood; the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' of 1888 called one ode "one of the final masterpieces". Jorge Luis Borges named his first encounter with Keats an experience he felt all his life. Keats had a style "heavily loaded with sensualities", notably in the series of odes. Typically of the Romantics, he accentuated extreme emotion through natural imagery. Today his poems and letters remain among the most popular and analysed in English literature – in particular "Ode to a Nightingale", "Ode ...
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Hull Paragon Interchange
Hull Paragon Interchange is a transport interchange providing rail, bus and coach services located in the city centre of Kingston upon Hull, England. The G. T. Andrews-designed station was originally named ''Paragon Station'', and together with the adjoining Station Hotel, it opened in 1847 as the new Hull terminus for the growing traffic of the York and North Midland (Y&NMR) leased to the Hull and Selby Railway (H&S). As well as trains to the west, the station was the terminus of the Y&NMR and H&S railway's Hull to Scarborough Line. From the 1860s the station also became the terminus of the Hull and Holderness and Hull and Hornsea railways. At the beginning of the 20th century the North Eastern Railway (NER) expanded the trainshed and station to the designs of William Bell, installing the present five arched span platform roof. In 1962 a modernist office block Paragon House was installed above the station main entrance, replacing a 1900s iron canopy; the offices ...
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Kingston Upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east of York, the historic county town. With a population of (), it is the fourth-largest city in the Yorkshire and the Humber region after Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford. The town of Wyke on Hull was founded late in the 12th century by the monks of Meaux Abbey as a port from which to export their wool. Renamed ''Kings-town upon Hull'' in 1299, Hull had been a market town, military supply port, trading centre, fishing and whaling centre and industrial metropolis. Hull was an early theatre of battle in the English Civil Wars. Its 18th-century Member of Parliament, William Wilberforce, took a prominent part in the abolition of the slave trade in Britain. More than 95% of the city was damaged or destroyed in the blitz and suffered a perio ...
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University Of Hull
The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hull York Medical School, a joint initiative with the University of York. Students are served by Hull University Union. The first chancellor of the university was Michael Willoughby, 11th Baron Middleton, Lord Middleton (1954–1969), followed by Henry Cohen, 1st Baron Cohen of Birkenhead, Lord Cohen (1970–1977), Richard Wilberforce, Baron Wilberforce, Lord Wilberforce (1978–1994), and Robert Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Ilminster, Lord Armstrong (1994–2006). Virginia Bottomley (Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone) was installed as the current chancellor in April 2006. History University College The foundation stone of University College Hull, then an external college of the University of London, was laid in 1927 by Prince Albert, th ...
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Whitsun
Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian High Holy Day of Pentecost. It is the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Christ's disciples (as described in Acts 2). In England it took on some characteristics of Beltane, which originated from the pagan celebration of Summer's Day, the beginning of the summer half-year, in Europe. Whitsuntide, the week following Whitsunday, was one of three holiday weeks for the medieval villein; on most Feudalism, manors he was free from service on the lord's demesne this week, which marked a pause in the agricultural year. Whit Monday, the day after Whitsun, remained a holiday in Britain until 1971Banking and Financial Dealings Act, 1971, Schedule 1, para 1. when, with effect from 1972, it was replaced with the Spring Bank Holiday on the last Monday in May. Whit was the occasion for varied forms of celebration ...
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BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts also featuring. The station describes itself as "the world's most significant commissioner of new music", and through its BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme, New Generation Artists scheme promotes young musicians of all nationalities. The station broadcasts the The Proms, BBC Proms concerts, live and in full, each summer in addition to performances by the BBC Orchestras and Singers. There are regular productions of both classic plays and newly commissioned drama. Radio 3 won the Sony Radio Academy UK Station of the Year Gold Award for 2009 and was nominated again in 2011. According to RAJAR, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 1.7 million with a listening share of 1.3% as of September 2022. History Radio 3 is the ...
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Grantham
Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and 22 miles (35 km) east of Nottingham. The population in 2016 was put at 44,580. The town is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of South Kesteven District. Grantham was the birthplace of the UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Isaac Newton was educated at the King's School. The town was the workplace of the UK's first warranted female police officer, Edith Smith in 1914. The UK's first running diesel engine was made there in 1892 and the first tractor in 1896. Thomas Paine worked there as an excise officer in the 1760s. The villages of Manthorpe, Great Gonerby, Barrowby, Londonthorpe and Harlaxton form outlying suburbs of the town. Etymology Grantham's name is first attested in the Domesday Book (1086); its orig ...
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London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as '' Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.The Greater London Authority consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The London Mayor is distinguished fr ...
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Jean Sprackland
Jean Sprackland (born 1962) is an English poet and writer, the author of five collections of poetry and two books of essays about place and nature. Biography Originally from Burton upon Trent, Jean Sprackland studied English and Philosophy at the University of Kent at Canterbury, then taught for a few years before beginning to write poetry at age 30. She is Professor of Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was Chair of the Poetry Archive from 2016 to 2020. Published works *''Tattoos for Mothers Day'' (Spike, 1997) *''Hard Water'' (Cape, 2003) *''Ellipsis: Vol. I'' (with Sean O'Brien and Tim Cooke; Comma Press, 2005) *''Our Thoughts are Bees: Working with Writers and Schools'' (with Mandy Coe; Wordplay Press, 2005) *''Tilt'' (Cape, 2007) *''Strands: A Year of Discoveries on the Beach'' (Cape, 2012) *''Sleeping Keys'' (Random House, 2013) *''Green Noise'' (Cape, 2018) *''These Silent Mansions: A life in graveyards'' (2020) Translated works *''Inclinación'' ...
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