Home Is So Sad - A poem by Philip Larkin

Philip Larkin - Home Is So Sad

Home is so sad. It stays as it was left,
Shaped in the comfort of the last to go
As if to win them back. Instead, bereft
Of anyone to please, it withers so,
Having no heart to put aside the theft.

And turn again to what it started as,
A joyous shot at how things ought to be,
Long fallen wide. You can see how it was:
Look at the pictures and the cutlery.
The music in the piano stool. That vase.

Added: on June 2nd, 2006 at 11:43 AM | Viewed: 10616 times | Comments (5)

Home Is So Sad - Comments and Information
Poet: Philip Larkin Poem: Home Is So Sad Volume: The Whitsun Weddings Year: Published/Written in 1958 Poem of the Day on: Oct 11 2003 Comment 5 of 5, added on November 1st, 2009 at 7:20 PM. I definitely think Akira was onto something. I believe the poem is about a home being left, but since the personal belongings there were what made it a home, it becomes a house to the newcommers, ready to be turned into a home yet again, but with the things that are important to them. It is all about a cycle of life, and how possibly it is our belongings that make us who we are (look at Mr Bleany too, for instance) and are all we leave behind - yet the onlookers dont see the true significance in the items. Cheyenne from Australia Comment 4 of 5, added on January 24th, 2009 at 5:29 AM. In my opinion, i wouldn't agree with any of those comments. I thought that Philip Larkin was personifying "home", and that home represents something in his life. It isn't taken literally as a house, as a home is more personal, more unique and individual than a house. A house is just merely a building, with no memories or experiences itself. It is a home that makes the poem different. The items Larkin names are images that give us a sense of "home". It is what he personally selected, and each have a special meaning, representation. I'm still hazy on the meaning of the poem, but i will further analyse it. akira from Australia Comment 3 of 5, added on June 2nd, 2006 at 11:43 AM. This is a beautiful poem; apart from the variety of nostalgic and melancholic themes, the wide use of literary techniques considering the short length of the poem is quite genius in places and thoroughly effective. The transferred epithets, the syntax, the subtle pun... they all comprise a fantastic poem. That final descending tricolon is also particularly poignant and provides, in my opinion, a perfectly apt conclusion for the tone and mood of the poem. Walker from United Kingdom More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, Home Is So Sad, has received 5 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own. Of course you can also always discuss poems by Philip Larkin with others on the Poetry Connection poetry forum!

Poem Info
Home Is So Sad Volume: The Whitsun Weddings Year: Published/Written in 1958 Last read: 2009-11-20 19:06:58 Poem of the Day on: Oct 11 2003 Viewed 10616 times. Added on June 2nd, 2006 at 11:43 AM.

Larkin Info
Biography More Poems (95 poems) Books