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Poet: Philip Larkin
Poem: Nothing To Be Said
Volume: The Whitsun Weddings
Year: Published/Written in 1964
Comment 2 of 2, added on September 20th, 2008 at 7:54 AM.
Larkin describes different ways of living that others lead, and that as sad as it seems, and is common to all, life is not for ever and is slowly passing away.
Some are not conscious of the fact that life is not for ever, hence, the discussing the smaller aspects of life passing them by would have no meaning to them, whilst others are very aware that life is short, and do not need to be reminded.
Tony Davison from United Kingdom
Comment 1 of 2, added on June 9th, 2006 at 4:21 AM.
'For nations vague as weed' reminds the reader that Larkin famously hated abroad and so would be unable to describe these far off places accurately. Having said that, he then goes on to express the diversity of the way in which people spend their lives across the globe very effectively: 'The day spent hunting pig / Or holding a garden-party'. No matter how you spend your day, death is coming for us and will reach us all in the end. The final lines sum up the feeling this awful truth gives us: 'And saying so to some / Means nothing; others it leaves / Nothing to be said.' There is nothing we can do about this impending doom and oblivion we all face. A depressing and yet somehow liberating realisation. I hope people don't get hung up about it being about death. Larkin is freeing us from the complex questions the phenomenon presents us with: it is sad and scary but 'it leaves nothing to be said' so get on with hunting that pig.
Abel from United Kingdom
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Larkin describes different ways of living that others lead, and that as sad as it seems, and is common to all, life is not for ever and is slowly passing away.
Some are not conscious of the fact that life is not for ever, hence, the discussing the smaller aspects of life passing them by would have no meaning to them, whilst others are very aware that life is short, and do not need to be reminded.
Tony Davison from United Kingdom