Poetry of Departures
Poetry of Departures - meaning Summary
Longing for Impulsive Escape
Larkin explores the allure of dramatic, last-minute departures and the private fantasy they provoke. Hearing that someone "chucked up everything" stirs admiration and a vicarious wish to abandon domestic order. The speaker admits this temptation partly sustains his ordinary, sober life, yet he also recognizes that such swaggering exits would be theatrical and self-creating, producing objects and a rehearsed simplicity rather than genuine escape.
Read Complete AnalysesSometimes 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 detect my room, It's 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 to 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.
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