Arrivals, Departures Flashcards
(14 cards)
title analysis
clipped nature
frequency of choice
speed in which you need to make choices and decisions
channel boats
ext metaphor for choice
nautical imagery common of Larkin - also seen in PoD - A03 link to Hull and Belfast
sidling
engines gliding
opportunities sneak up on you
what juxtaposes sliding and engines gliding
blurted
juxtaposition between quiet and loud
opportunities sneak up on you but once they arrive choice is unavoidable
stanza 2 - ‘we’
personal pronoun - speaker also affected by choice
atypical of Larkin poems - the speaker is usually separated from society like in Reasons for Attendance
doleful distance
plosive alliteration
the need to make a choice is potentially harmful
doleful indicates pessimism
horny dilemmas
sexual innuendo
the choice he has to make is appealing/tempting
confused speaker - dual voice
come and choose…
the need to make a choice as incessant
italics in final line of stanza 2
societal expectations - to choose is to conform
at night again they sound
inescapability of choice
repetition of societal voice in third stanza
the pressure to choose + therefore to conform
final rhyming tercet
rhyme links to pace - panic - has to make a choice
at first the speaker takes an outsider view but then he conforms to the cliched view - links to the widespread saying ‘don’t miss the boat’
structural comments
best structural comments - final rhyming tercet, argument marker
the rhyme overlaps the stanzas - represents the confusion of choices
A03 comments
common of movement writers to make use of dual voice
rejection of poet laureate
post world war
