arrivals departures

Question 1

In Arrivals, Departures, the image of a travelling salesman arriving on the ‘morning shore’ represents the difficulty of ________

Answer 1

choice

Question 2

In Arrivals, Departures, the image of a boat arriving on the ‘morning shore’ was likely influenced by….?

Answer 2

Larkin living in Belfast at the time, and regularly making the journey back to England on a ‘channel boat’.

Question 3

in Arrivals, Departures, the boat comes ‘sidling’ into harbour, arriving in a quiet, almost secretive, manner - why?

Answer 3

To represent how we are often unaware of the choices that we face, until it is too late.

Question 4

‘His advent ___________ to the morning shore’ (Arrivals, Departures)

Answer 4

blurted

Question 5

What does the word ‘blurted’ mean in Arrivals, Departures?

Answer 5

blurted means to speak loudly and without thinking.

Question 6

In Arrivals, Departures, the travelling salesman arrives in a loud and somewhat clumsy fashion - why?

Answer 6

To represent how we are often distracted by noise and other unimportant diversions when we make choices.

Question 7

‘we barely recalled from __________’ (Arrivals, Departures)

Answer 7

sleep

Question 8

In Arrivals, Departures, Larkin refers to the ‘doleful distance’ - what does ‘doleful’ mean?

Answer 8

Causing sadness/grief

Question 9

In Arrivals, Departures, why does Larkin refer to the ‘doleful distance’?

Answer 9

‘doleful’ means to cause sadness/greif; the speaker thinks that the choices we make will - in the ‘distance’ of the future - make us feel a sense of pain and regret.

Question 10

‘Come and choose __________, they cry, come and choose ________’ (Arrivals, Departures)

Answer 10

wrong

Question 11

In Arrivals, Departures, who or what does Larkin imagine saying - ‘come and choose wrong’?

Answer 11

Larkin personifies the ‘dilemmas’ (stanza 2) as seductive and tempting, drawing us in to making the wrong decision.

Question 12

‘Calling the traveller now, the _____________ bound’ (Arrivals, Departures)

Answer 12

outward

Question 13

In Arrivals, Departures, what is the significance of the boat that arrived on the ‘morning shore’ (stanza 1) turning into the ‘outward bound’ (stanza 3)

Answer 13

It represents how the opportunities, once new and within reach, are now disappearing.

Question 14

In Arrivals, Departures, the poem begins in the ‘morning’, representing new opportunities and a fresh start. However, by the end of the poem, it has become ‘night’ - why?

Answer 14

To represent how these new opportunities have disappeared and been replaced by uncertainty and darkness.

Question 15

In Arrivals, Departures, Larkin rhymes the three final lines of the poem - ‘knowing’/’blowing’/’going’ - why?

Answer 15

This is intended to quicken the tempo of the final lines, representing the fast disappearing sense of choice.

Question 16

What is the significance of the clipped title - ‘Arrivals, Departures’?

Answer 16

It represents how quickly the choices that ‘arrive’ in our life end up ‘departing’ again.