"The Whitsun Weddings" is one of the best known poems by British poet

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 ...

. 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 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 rh ...

is ''a,b,a,b,c,d,e,c,d,e'' (a rhyme scheme similar to that used in various of

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 tuberculos ...

ode An ode (from grc, ᾠδή, ōdḗ) is a type of lyric poetry. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structured in three majo ...

s). Larkin describes a stopping-train journey southwards from Paragon station in

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-ea ...

, where he was a librarian at the

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, on a hot

Whit Whit may refer to: * Whit or Whitsun, another name for the holy day of Pentecost * Whit (given name) * Whit (novel) ''Whit, or, Isis amongst the unsaved'' is a novel by the Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 1995. Isis Whit, a young but ...

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

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 ...

(not at Whitsun, some weddings), and one to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

(not at Whitsun, no weddings), that may have been conflated in the poem. The poem's narrator describes the scenery and smells of the countryside and towns through which the largely empty train passes. The train's windows are open because of the heat, and he gradually becomes aware of bustle on the platforms at each station, eventually realising that this is the noise and actions of wedding parties that are seeing off couples who are boarding the train. He notes the different classes of people involved, each with their own responses to the occasion – the fathers, the uncles, the children, the unmarried female relatives. He imagines the venues where the wedding receptions have been held. As the train continues into London, with the afternoon shadows lengthening, his reflections turn to the permanence of what the newly-weds have done, yet its significance, though huge for them, seems to give him an ultimately disappointing message, suggested by the poem's final phrase. However, as a counterbalance, rain brings fertility. Recorded readings of the poem include one by Larkin himself.Poetry Archive: "The Whitsun Weddings"
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitsun Weddings, The Poetry by Philip Larkin 1964 poems

See also

References