Triple Time, Skin, Lines on a Young Lady's Photograph Album

Question 1

‘This empty ___________, this sky to blandness scoured’ (Triple Time)

Answer 1

street

Question 2

‘This air, a little indistinct with __________’ (Triple Time)

Answer 2

autumn

Question 3

In Triple Time, which time period is described as being ‘a time unrecommended by event’

Answer 3

the present

Question 4

In Triple Time, how does Larkin suggest we view the present?

Answer 4

As dull and devoid of meaning

Question 5

This is the future furthest childhood saw // Between long houses, under _________ skies’ (Triple Time)

Answer 5

travelling

Question 6

What does the word ‘lambent’ mean and in which poem is it used?

Answer 6

lambent = glowing (Triple Time)

Question 7

In Triple Time, how does Larkin suggest we view the future?

Answer 7

As exciting and full of possibility

Question 8

What are the different meanings of the title Triple Time?

Answer 8

1. Triple time refers to the past, the present and the future (all of which feature in the poem) 2. Triple time is a fast paced musical tempo - representing how quickly time moves forward

Question 9

‘A valley cropped by fat _________ chances’ (Triple Time)

Answer 9

neglected

Question 10

In Triple Time, which time period is metaphorically described as ‘a valley cropped by fat neglected chances’

Answer 10

The past

Question 11

In Triple Time, how does Larkin suggest we view the past?

Answer 11

With a sense of regret, due to the multiple chances that we failed to seize.

Question 12

What does ‘insensately’ mean, and in which poem does it feature?

Answer 12

Insensately = lacking awareness. This is used in Triple Time to describe how we see our past selves.

Question 13

At last you __________ up the album’ (Lines)

Answer 13

yielded

Question 14

Too much ____________, too rich’ (Lines)

Answer 14

confectionary

Question 15

What kind of semantic field is used in the opening stanza of Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album?

Answer 15

semantic field of food (the woman is presented as a commodity to be consumed)

Question 16

What are some of the quotations that link to the semantic field of food in Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album?

Answer 16

too much confectionary’ ‘I choke on such nutritious images’ ‘My swivel eye hungers’

Question 17

I ___________ on such nutritious images’ (Lines)

Answer 17

choke

Question 18

How is ‘art’ described in Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album?

Answer 18

faithful and disappointing

Question 19

In Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album, why does the speaker see photography as ‘disappointing’? ‘ ___________ and ______________’

Answer 19

It is too ‘faithful’ - it does not leave room for imagination

Question 20

So I am left to _________’ (Lines)

Answer 20

mourn

Question 21

Why does Larkin feel saddened when he considers the girl’s past in Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album?

Answer 21

It is something that he is excluded from - it is ‘a past that no one can now share’.

Question 22

It holds you like a __________’ (Lines)

Answer 22

heaven

Question 23

What technique is used in the following: ‘‘it holds you like a heaven’’ (Lines)

Answer 23

simile

Question 24

In Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album, what it is that the speaker says ‘holds you [the girl] like a heaven’?

Answer 24

the past

Question 25

Which quotation in Lines on a Young Lady’s Photograph Album suggests that the past preserves the woman in an eternal state of wonder and purity.

Answer 25

‘it holds you like a heaven’

Question 26

‘Obedient daily ___________’ (Skin)

Answer 26

dress

Question 27

What is the main technique used in the poem Skin?

Answer 27

Extended metaphor - Larkin compares our skin to ‘obedient daily dress’.

Question 28

In Skin, why does Larkin compare our skin to ‘obedient daily dress’?

Answer 28

He is suggesting that skin, like clothing, protects us. However, we tend to see it as unremarkable and simply ‘obedient’.

Question 29

‘You cannot always keep/That _________ young surface’ (Skin)

Answer 29

unfakable

Question 30

In Skin, why does Larkin refer to the ‘unfakable young surface’?

Answer 30

He is suggesting that there is something inherently honest and authentic about being young.

Question 31

‘You must learn your _________’ (Skin)

Answer 31

lines

Question 32

What technique is used here: ‘You must learn your lines’ (Skin)

Answer 32

A pun. Larkin is referring to the lines that inevitably appear on ageing skin, but also the way that we must all learn our roles and play the part we have been given.

Question 33

‘Of the continuous coarse/Sand-laden wind, _____________’ (Skin)

Answer 33

time

Question 34

What technique is used here: ‘Of the continuous coarse/Sand-laden wind, time’? (Skin)

Answer 34

metaphor

Question 35

In Skin, why does Larkin compare time to a ‘continuous coarse/Sand-laden wind’

Answer 35

He is suggesting that the passing of time is unstoppable, as well as suggesting how growing older brings harsh (‘coarse’) truths that cannot be avoided.

Question 36

And pardon me, that/ I could find, when you were new/ No __________ festivity /To wear you at’ (Skin)

Answer 36

brash

Question 37

Does the poem Skin use a regular rhyme scheme, and why?

Answer 37

Yes. There is a regular ABACBC rhyme scheme. This is employed by Larkin to represent the inevitable and continual passing of time, which is marked by our skin’s ageing.