Home+Is+So+Sad+Analysis+-+Patrick+D

__Home Is So Sad - Philip Larkin__

//Home is so sad. It stays as it was left, Shaped to the comfort of the last to go As if to win them back. Instead, bereft Of anyone to please, it withers so, Having no heart to put aside the theft

And turn again to what it started as, A joyous shot at how things ought to be, Long fallen wide. You can see how it was: Look at the pictures and the cutlery. The music in the piano stool. That vase.//


 * __Context:__**

__Philip Larkin:__ Born on 9th of August, 1922, and dying on 2nd of December 1985, Philip Larkin was regarded as one of the greatest English poets of the second half of the 20th century. He had an odd childhood, with little contact from relatives or friends and was home-schooled until he was 8. He joined Coventry's King Henry VIII Junior School, and became well established there. He went on to King Henry VIII Senior School, and faired poorly in his School certificate exam. However, two years later, he earned distinctions in History and History. Philip had a keen interest in jazz, and this interest was supported by his parents.

Philip was involved with many University libraries around England, including the libary at Queen's University, Belfast, and the library at the University of Hull. His first poetry publication was released in 1945, and his last unpublished poem was released in 1988.

__Home Is So Sad:__ Originally published in Larkin's 1964 release 'The Whitsun Weddings', the poem is regarded as one of the more unknown works of Larkin, straying in the shadows of more popular works such as 'The Whitsun Weddings' and 'Days'. The Cold War was taking place in 1964, and it marked the start of British pop music invading the USA with the release of the Beatles.


 * __Literal Meaning:__**

The above poem seems simple enough, describing a home with it's occupants elsewhere. The home longs for it's owners to return, similar to a dog left at home waiting for it's master, or a child being left at a daycare centre. The poem describes the home's inability to satisfy anyone more than those who made it, and how the original outlook of the home has turned out to have different results.


 * __Imagery:__**

In my view, the poem instills imagery similar to the images shown below:

This picture relates more to the first stanza, with words and phrases like "It stays as it was left" and "It withers so" leading to this image to appear.

This picture relates to the end of the second stanza where Philip describes the objects, such as the vase and cutlery. I get an image of the objects being dusty and dark, similar to the effects shown in the picture, but on a more extreme scale.

This picture relates to the first part of stanza two, how it tells of "a joyous shot at how things ought to be". You get the happy family standing outside a new house image, which is what the poem is saying here.

__**Readings / Meanings:**__

Of course, there are many ways to interpret a poem based on the context of the reader, poem, and author. For this poem, there were a few readings that stood out to me:


 * A home protects us, and is out safe haven. When you leave your home, it misses you and feels empty, much the same as you miss it.
 * People are wasteful, and buy things for the sake of it, only to neglect it later (From phrases such as "That vase" and "The music in the piano stool" that give a very specific note to the objects).
 * A home is only complete with you in it.

__**Language Analysis:**__

// Home is so sad. It stays as it was left,// - Metaphor //Shaped to the comfort of the last to go // - Caesura //As if to win them back. Instead, bereft// - Personification //Of anyone to please, it withers so ,// - Personification //Having no heart to put aside the theft

And turn again to what it started as,// //A joyous shot at how things ought to be // - Caesura //Long fallen wide. You can see how it was: Look at the pictures and the cutlery. The music in the piano stool. That vase. // - Imagery

Rhyming pattern: 1 2 1 2 1

3 4 3 4 3