Born Yesterday: Philip Larkin at 100
The 100th anniversary of the poet Philip Larkin’s birth took place earlier this week. Larkin is an important poet for me, personally, yet I still somehow manage to underestimate the hold he has on the imagination of the British public. For better or worse, if you mention poetry in this country to someone…
Which Yet Survive: Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias’
Percy Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias’ is not exactly a neglected poem. It was an option in my GCSE anthology fifteen years ago. For all I know, it still is. It’s tempting to approach the poem as a kind of relic, like those ‘two vast and trunkless legs of stone’ standing in the desert, a monument…
Back to Basics
For various reasons, it’s been a while since I’ve published anything here. I’d like to get back into it but I also want to see if I can get more out of it. One of the things that makes a blog a blog is that’s its unplanned, so I’m wary of being too…
The Long Slide: Philip Larkin’s ‘High Windows’
Most writers dislike most of what they write most of the time but the savagery of Philip Larkin’s self-criticism still has the power to shock. In his workbook, the final three words of ‘High Windows’ – ‘and is endless’ – are replaced by ‘and fucking piss’. This is not very helpful, given I’m…
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Jeremy Wikeley 