No Road

Question 1

What is the main theme of this poem?

Answer 1

Relationships

Question 2

What does the speaker still have for the “subject”?

Answer 2

Strong feelings

Question 3

What will help the speaker heal?

Answer 3

Time

Question 4

Who was Larkin supposed to get married to and what happened?

Answer 4

Ruth Bowman but their engagement ended

Question 5

What’s the structure?

Answer 5

ABACDD - 6 line stanza

Question 6

What does the structure mean?

Answer 6

At the beginning there’s plural nouns and it changes to singular nouns it shows that the speaker no longer has feelings for her

Question 7

1) “since we __ to let the road __ us fall to disuse”
- what noun is we? decision? technique? what does the technique show?

Answer 7

1) agreed, between
- plural, mutual, extended metaphor, their relationship/connection

Question 8

2) “__ trees”
- make a what? what remains? views? what does these views show?

Answer 8

2) planted
- effort, his strong feelings for her, conflicting, Larkin is a movement writer

Question 9

3) “__, and space, and strangers - our __ has not had much effort.”
- technique? what does the caesura show? what does the end stop show?

Answer 9

3) silence, neglect
- sibilance, it frequently used and shows the disruption, unsuccessful

Question 10

4) “like a __ sun”
- two techniques? what two things does it show? what is he hoping for?

Answer 10

4) cold
- simile/oxymoron, lack of warmth and difficult decision, that time will free him from feeling

Question 11

5) “__ it, my aliment”
- what does the caesura show? what does aliment mean? what does he want? emotions? what’s without deception? time is?

Answer 11

5) willing
- complexity, a minor illness, he wants to be free/alone, mixed, truth/self reflection, inevitable