talking in bed- larkin

What is the key theme of talking in bed and one flesh

Disappointment and love

What type of poem is talking in bed

Free verse (A02)

What is the form of the stanzas

Tercets - 3 line stanzas

1st stanza

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explain half rhyme A02

Half hearted rhymes symbolise the relationships isn’t willing to put any effort in

Why is the title ironic

Whole poem is about not talking in bed

What does “talking in bed ought to be easiest”

Suggesting it should be so easy but instead his reality is far from that and how the couple doesn’t match up

What is the irony of how the couple doesn’t match up specifically in the bedroom (1st tercet)

The couple doesn’t match up in the bedroom which is supposed to be like a haven / refuge - ironic that they are in the most intimate space of a relationship, yet there is a discomfort

What is the modal verb of the first tercet

“Ought”

What is the tone of the 1st stanza

Philosophical

How is “lying together there goes back so far” a polysemic

They are lying to each other but also lying physically in bed together

What does goes back so far mean

Shows the longevity of the relationship-stuck in this relationship as it’s all they’ve ever known

what is the juxtaposition of “goes back so far”

Physical closeness and emotional distance

Why would there be an awkward silence on “lying together goes back so far”

Awkward silence of deceiving each other just for the sake of being together - gap of what is said and what is unsaid

2nd stanza

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What is the tonal shift

Disconnection - reinforced by “yet”

What does “yet more and more time passes silently” mean

Reinforces that they haven’t properly spoken for ages

What does “more” represent

Repitition of elongated vowels to reinforce how long this distance has stayed

What ao2 is used for “silently”

Adverb and sibilance suggesting a whisper

What ao2 comes from “outside the winds incomplete unrest”

Pathetic fallacy - opposing to roaring weather to the complete silence of the bedroom

What does “builds and disperses clouds about the sky”

Interior and exterior -how clouds build then disperse - tension builds then disperses as they don’t talk about their relationship - the weather mimics the turmoil of the relationship

What does “incomplete unrest” mean

Foreboding of doom - no more clear sailing of the relationship - it’s turned to all storm

3rd stanza

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What does “ and dark towns heap up on the horizon” mean

Outside parallels the inside- “dark” diction with negative connotations

What does “heap up” mean

Phrases verb creating claustroas the bad storm approaches into the relationships

What ao2 is the weather and the relationships

Uses weather as a metaphor for turbulent relationships

Why are negative prefixes used

Deliberately used by Larkin makes the reader feel down- sense of doom and cynicism of love

What is the Ao3 of “dark towns”

Industrialisation in the 50s - ‘New towns’ were created after her blitz of WW2

What does “none of this care for us. Nothing shows why”

“None/nothing” they have no one else - trapped in isolation in each others confinements -empathetic negative diction

What is the oxymoron of a bedroom

Intimate bedroom yet difficult to talk - unique distance from isolation

What does the punctuation do in this poem

The further on the play goes, the punctuation withers away, like the relationship -rising panic echoes into the reader

What is the poetic persona

Depression no comfort from humanity/partner - surrounded by people but alone

4th stanza

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What does “not untrue and not unkind” mean

Struggling to speak - can’t be true and kind at the same time - for him to be truthful it will hurt her - reflects the dilemma of the poem

What A02 “not untrue and not unkind”

Litotes - dilutes the positive - uses deliberately to leave the reader on a note of confusion

What is Larkin saying in this stanza

Larkin is saying it is impossible to be truthful and kind at the same time -his view of love - why he is such a cynic