Poetry Writing Prompt

Phillip Larkin's Here uses very descriptive diction in order to let the reader know how he feels about the places he describes. Larkin uses great imagery and figurative language in order to portray what he sees as going on in this narrative poem.

Larkin is describing a fast pace town and paradoxes it to his feelings. The tone of the poem is lonely in a way. There are a lot of people around the town and everything is moving fast, yet the people in it are alone. In the first stanza, line 7, Larkin uses a personification to describe the river with "slow presence" meaning everything around it is moving so fast, no one takes the time to look at their surroundings.

Larkin's use of imagery gives the reader a sense of what's going on in the town. In the 3rd stanza, lines to 19 to 24, the diction is extremely descriptive. Smells are used, all the different shops are described and some of the people are described too. The image Larkin paints for the reader shows that all of these activities going on through out the town, making the mood very chaotic.

Here is an allegory in a way, where people represent something more than what the naked eye sees. All of these people are moving so fast, they make no time to stop to see whats really going on. The people of the town represent emptiness someone might feel when no one is taking the time to pay attention.

"Loneliness clarifies. Here silence stands" is another great use of a personification in the 4th stanza, line 25. As the people all leave the town, the emptiness a person might feel is even more present. "Facing the sun, untalkative, out of reach", the last line of the poem, shows that someones loneliness can be an outcome from others' negligence. Although there are people in the town, it's almost as if it doesn't matter because they don't have true emotions.

Larkin's narrative poem uses descriptive diction, imagery and figurative language to portray the real "emptiness" of the town. He shows the reader what the town in really like and the views someone might have from looking from the outside.