Compare the Ways in Which Larkin and Abse Write About Settings in Their Poems. Essay

Compare the ways in which Larkin and Abse write about settings in their meters. In your response you must include detailed critical discussion of at least two of Larkins poems.In Mr Bleaney Larkin explores the setting of an old house, still incessantly present with the spirit and legacy of its last house physician. Setting is presented as impressionable on its inhabitant, restricting and institutionalising their lives. Similarly, Abses poem departure Cardiff as well displays themes regarding setting big you an identity, which is defined by one place, leaving the office institutionalised. Regarding setting, another of Larkins poems The Whitsun Weddings also supports the theme of settings being very impressionable. However, like Leaving Cardiff, this particular proposition poem hints at settings also contri justing to a disappointing, anticlimactic and overrated move arounding.In Mr Bleaney Larkin presents setting as an extremely reclusive place which has an everlasting and ov erpowering effect on the persona, making him very agoraphobic. The repetitive and constant ABAB rhyme scheme throughout this poem hints at the continual and dull life the persona leads, being laboured to live a constant, boring life sculpted by Mr Bleaneys previous existence. The lexis stayed also reiterates the lack of ambition the persona feels towards being any diametrical to Mr Bleaney. The previous occupant Mr Bleaney relied on his house the whole time, and the persona is starting to behave similarly. The end of the poem I dont k at one time., end with a caesura displaying irony, is a powerful ending which is the personas way of justifying superiority or difference, and the irony that he is actually like Mr Bleaney, a reclusive and restrictive man. The nonliteral use of pathetic fallacy frigid wind is hinting at the outside world trying to torpon the previous occupant to come outside more frequently, but due to his contentment with confinement, he chose never to.That how we live measures our own nature is examineing how home sculpts you to how you are and your life is evaluated based on your home. Therefore, the previous occupant Mr Bleaney is leaving an everlasting impression on his home, rubbing of onto the way the persona lives his life. In addition, the lexis home is used when describing this particular setting. On the whole, this prison like venue isquite the opposite of a homely environment and the irony is that evidently the setting in this poem is more like a hired concussion, hinting at a coffin like atmosphere created within the home. On the whole, the setting in this poem is not described very positively, and the persona should definitely not be happy within the confinement of an everlasting, dominant presence overshadowing the joy of life through obsession with imprisonment.Similarly, Abses poem Leaving Cardiff also hints at setting being accountable for your identity. Can I be the same man twice is a prime example of setting, in this p oem Cardiff, defying your distinctiveness. The persona within this poem is reflecting on how Cardiff once distinctively defined who he was, and now he is leaving, he will never be the same person that Cardiff once moulded him into. To show the persona and the setting are strongly linked with a bond, the metaphorical usage of pathetic fallacy knots of piss flow is hinting at the emotional response that Cardiff has on the persona, linking them together strongly and showing how dominant setting is in his life. In addition, the materialistic use of now the funnels negations blow shows how Cardiff was dominant in every aspect of the personas life. Due to funnels blowing out rings of smoke, they are metaphorically signifying the repetitious and vicious circles the persona will introduce in always being linked to Cardiff, bringing him back to where he started. Also, the rings of smoke signify the emptiness within his life, and how once he leaves Cardiff a segment of his identity will be left behind.Alternatively, setting in Larkins The Whitsun Weddings is predominantly described through a jaunt on a train, contributing to the disappointing and overrated impression of setting. Although Larkin claims there was nothing of himself in this poem, his biographer maintains there was everything of the poet in this poem, critiquing the homogeneity of life. In one sense, the persona is experiencing a stereotypical journey within the setting of a train, on looking on the houses and streets surrounding him. However, in another sense the persona is looking at the mass turnout of newlyweds during The Whitsun Weddings, a religious festival, unprepared for their hopeful and artificial journey ahead.Phillip Larkin is very critical of marriage, believing too much credence is put on it and the macrocosm is that it will not last. A slow and stopping curve southwards. This is hinting at the reality of life going downhill after marriage, and the expected journey will not succeed. In re gards to setting, the setting of a train is extremely significant. As the newlyweds pile on the train polluting true love, the train is symbolically signifying the deteriorative journey that will take place in their love lives. Generally, this poem is very negative towards the journey that married couples will face, symbolical of the setting of a train. However, the supple break of the ABABCDECDE rhyme scheme when grass and cars rhyme is to show a slight blip of happiness in marriage, in contrast to sorrow.This is because Larkin wanted to show how this is only his opinion on the journey of marriage. Also, the breaking of the rhyme scheme could symbolically show how in fact in later life the couples may separate and evidently their marriage could break down. The setting of a train is to also show the normalisation and journey of a marriage. Abses Leaving Cardiff also uses journey to contribute to the setting, just like Larkin does. The journey that the persona is facing in this poe m is that he is leaving Cardiff for good. Upload and move on. This particular metaphor is showing how the persona is leaving the setting of Cardiff, but will never forget the journey he has been on whilst he is there, and evidently the pilgrimage he will face in the future.