Going

‘There is an evening coming in

Across the fields, one never seen before,’

‘There is an evening coming in

Across the fields, one never seen before,’

Evening/Darkness = death = great unknown.

‘That lights no lamps’

Repetition of negators ‘no’ and ‘never’ (previous line)

Death is shown as being final and absolute. It is suggested that there is no sense of hope or optimism. Larkin presents it as something much more terrifying than we perhaps think.

‘Silken it seems at a distance, yet‘

The break in stanza suggests a shift in perspective - Death goes from being seen as terrifying and absolute to more beautiful and abstract (this idea is then refuted)

Death seems to be distant.

Perhaps for people who don’t think about death much, it can be seen as beautiful or abstract

‘When it is drawn up over the knees and breast \ It brings no comfort.’

When its being confronted, it becomes more real and is a stark and brutal reality that doesn’t bring comfort, peace or solace

‘Where has the tree gone, that locked \n Earth to the sky? What is under my hands,’

Natural imagery of the tree is used to bind the earth to heaven.

Heaven is connoted through the use of ‘heaven’.

Implies that life and death are always connected.

The speaker’s understanding of his world has shifted as he becomes more uncertain by the idea of death.

‘That I cannot feel?’

Use of repeated rhetorical questions emphasises the speakers uncertainty.

What loads my hands down?

Singular line.

Used to depict the speakers final and true thoughts (typical of Larkin’s writing).

Implies that death causes burden.

Themes

Death

the darkness of death

Life

Other poems to compare to

Structure and form

10 lines that don’t rhyme (atypical of Larkin’s style)

This causes the tone to become serious and sombre - implies that death is terrifying and should be, and that there is no jovial, straightforward way to explain it. The tone reflects its complexity and uncertainty. This is reinforced by the fact that he does not actually mention death, only alluding to it through metaphors.

context

Larkin’s agnosticism may be shown through his rejection of what os after death other than an end to life.

Father’s nihilism

Though about death from a young age - wrote this poem at the age of 26

was originally named dying day