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[falcongrrl]

Poetry of Departures

Sometimes you hear, fifth-hand,
As epitaph:
He chucked up everything
And just cleared off,
And always the voice will sound
Certain you approve
This audacious, purifying,
Elemental move.

And they are right, I think.
We all hate home
And having to be there:
I detest my room,
Its specially-chosen junk,
The good books, the good bed,
And my life, in perfect order:
So to hear it said

He walked out on the whole crowd
Leaves me flushed and stirred,
Like Then she undid her dress
Or Take that you bastard;
Surely I can, if he did?
And that helps me stay
Sober and industrious.
But I'd go today,

Yes, swagger the nut-strewn roads,
Crouch in the fo'c'sle
Stubbly with goodness, if
It weren't so artificial,
Such a deliberate step backwards
To create an object:
Books; china; a life
Reprehensibly perfect.

--Philip Larkin

Comments

[koogrr.livejournal.com]

Wow. Feeling this is for me, or could be me.

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

Keep the King. ;-)

[ladybard65.livejournal.com]

And once again I marvel at how nothing conveys the complexity of human experience like a poem! Boy, can I relate to this one! :-)

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

And I think that last stanza is meant to be cautionary - that after you leave, your past is frozen into perfection and reproach; you can appreciate it now, but only from afar.

And yet, just stylistically, I think it's the other stanzas that take hold of the imagination more. Maybe Larkin was working hard to convince himself. ;-)

[gatcat.livejournal.com]

Sometimes you've got to try it to know; sometimes it's good to be sure of what you've got.

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

True, on both counts, definitely. :-)

I should really link to the earlier post where I misquote it, if not for the fact that it's locked and this post is public.

But basically, this tension (taking off vs. staying put) is a theme of sorts of me, for a lot of different reasons. I choose to stay in the life I have, even while experiencing the restlessness; it's my hope and belief that I understand the choice.

[gatcat.livejournal.com]

It used to be a tension for me, and it's a living, breathing theme. I can't claim to know I'm making the best decisions, ever, but I'm as happy as I've ever been...usually.

I'm glad you posted the poem; I had not seen it before.

[koogrr.livejournal.com]

I think I want your lifestyle. I'll need you to explain it to me sometime.

[gatcat.livejournal.com]

Drop me an email anytime! This name at Google's famous public email service, with all the requisite dots and ats and things.