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'Wild Oats' Philip Larkin
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'Wild Oats' Philip Larkin
Sofia & Rodrigo
Choice of Language
"bosomy English rose", "beautiful" , "fur gloves"
vs.
"friend in specs", "cathedral", "clergy"
"Her friends in specs I could talk to"
"But it was the friend I took out"
"I believe I met beautiful twice"
"Agreement // that I was too selfish, withdrawn and easily bored to love"
"Well, useful to get that learned"
Structure
- Poem doesn't follow a rhyme scheme.
- Excessive amount of enjambment
- Separated into 3 stanzas of each 8 lines
Wild Oats
Context:
Title – “sow your wild oats"
Planting seeds everywhere.
Reminiscent and regretful tone
Illustrates an insecurity in Larkins character
About twenty years ago
Two girls came in where I worked -
A bosomy English rose
And her friend in specs I could talk to.
Faces in those days sparked
The whole shooting-match off, and I doubt
If ever one had like hers:
But it was the friend I took out,
And in seven years after that
Wrote over four hundred letters,
Gave a ten-guinea ring
I got back in the end, and met
At numerous cathedral cities
Unknown to the clergy. I believe
I met beautiful twice. She was trying
Both times (so I thought) not to laugh.
Parting, after about five
Rehearsals, was an agreement
That I was too selfish, withdrawn
And easily bored to love.
Well, useful to get that learnt,
In my wallet are still two snaps,
Of bosomy rose with fur gloves on.
Unlucky charms, perhaps.
How does Larkin use his tone, diction, and irony, to reveal his repentance and aspiration of love?