Poem Analysis - I Remember I Remember

Introduction: A Disillusioned Homecoming

Philip Larkin's "I Remember, I Remember" is a wry and melancholic exploration of memory and the disillusionment that can accompany revisiting one's past. The poem begins with a deceptively simple scene: a train journey and a brief stop at the speaker's birthplace, Coventry. However, the initial sense of potential nostalgia quickly dissolves into a cynical examination of the speaker's memories, revealing a past devoid of the idealized happiness often associated with childhood. The poem is characterized by a detached and sardonic tone, punctuated by moments of biting honesty as the speaker dismantles the romanticized notions of "roots" and belonging.

The Myth of "Roots": A Theme of Disconnection

One of the central themes is the rejection of the idea of having deep, meaningful "roots" in a particular place. The speaker's initial, almost obligatory, exclamation upon arriving in Coventry, "'Why, Coventry!' I exclaimed. 'I was born here,'" feels forced, a performance of expected sentiment. This is immediately undercut by his inability to even orient himself in the town ("but found I wasn't even clear/Which side was which"). Later, when his friend asks, "Was that,' my friend smiled, 'where you "have your roots"?'" the speaker's response is a curt denial: "No, only where my childhood was unspent." This dismissal highlights the poem's theme of disconnection – the speaker feels no genuine attachment to his birthplace, viewing it merely as a place where time passed, not a source of identity or belonging.

Shattering Illusions: Reimagining the Past

The poem systematically dismantles idealized memories of childhood and family. The speaker sarcastically describes the garden where he "did not invent/Blinding theologies of flowers and fruits, / And wasn't spoken to by an old hat," suggesting a lack of imaginative engagement and a sterile, uninspiring environment. Similarly, the description of his family – "The boys all biceps and the girls all chest, /Their comic Ford, their farm where I could be /'Really myself'" – is laden with irony. The phrase "Really myself" is placed in quotation marks, emphasizing the speaker's inability to connect with his family or find genuine self-expression in their presence. He paints them as caricatures, further distancing himself from any sense of familial warmth or connection.

The Bleakness of "Anywhere": Universalizing Disappointment

The poem concludes with a stark statement about the nature of existence itself. The image of the speaker's face betraying his true feelings leads his friend to remark, "You look as though you wished the place in Hell." His resigned response, "'Oh well, / I suppose it's not the place's fault,' I said. / 'Nothing, like something, happens anywhere,'" reveals a profound sense of existential disillusionment. The phrase "Nothing, like something" is a particularly powerful paradox, suggesting that even the significant events of life ultimately amount to emptiness. The use of "anywhere" broadens the scope of the poem beyond Coventry, implying that this sense of disappointment and lack of fulfillment is a universal human experience, not tied to any specific location.

Symbolic Landscapes: The Bracken as a Site of Unfulfilled Potential

The image of the "bracken where I never trembling sat, / Determined to go through with it; where she / Lay back, and 'all became a burning mist'" is particularly striking. While the exact nature of "it" is left ambiguous, the phrasing suggests a moment of potential sexual or emotional awakening that never fully materialized. The bracken, typically associated with wildness and freedom, becomes a symbol of missed opportunities and unfulfilled desires. The phrase "all became a burning mist" evokes a sense of confusion and incompleteness, hinting at a lack of genuine connection or satisfaction. It is noteworthy the speaker says "never trembling sat," showing that something did not happen. The ambiguity here invites interpretation: was the missed encounter a result of the speaker's own inhibitions, or external circumstances? This moment, and others, speak to the poem's broader theme of a life lived with a sense of quiet regret.

Conclusion: A Lament for Lost Potential

"I Remember, I Remember" is a powerful and unsettling poem that challenges the romanticized notion of "roots" and the idealized memories of childhood. Through its sardonic tone, vivid imagery, and bleak pronouncements, Larkin exposes the speaker's profound sense of disconnection from his past, his family, and even the world itself. The poem is not simply a lament for a specific place or time, but a meditation on the universal human experience of disillusionment and the often-unbridgeable gap between expectation and reality. Ultimately, the poem's significance lies in its unflinching exploration of the human condition, its refusal to shy away from the uncomfortable truths about memory, belonging, and the pervasive sense of "nothing" that can haunt our lives.