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Poet: Philip Larkin
Poem: The Importance Of Elsewhere
Volume: The Whitsun Weddings
Year: Published/Written in 1955
Poem of the Day on:
Feb 20 2009
Comment 1 of 1, added on June 9th, 2006 at 5:14 AM.
Larkin had issues with belonging. In 'For Sidney Bechet' he comes closest to an environment or emotion that makes him feel at home.
This poem is about Larkin's preoccupation with the reason he cannot feel at home and the guilt he has about feeling strange and out of place.
He is 'Lonely in Ireland, since it is not home,' and yet he was made welcome because it made sense to feel strange. These were not his 'customs and establishments'. At last he had an excuse to be out of place. He may not be entirely comfortable but 'Here no elsewhere underwrites my existence.' He can be strange here if he wants.
Abel from United Kingdom
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Larkin had issues with belonging. In 'For Sidney Bechet' he comes closest to an environment or emotion that makes him feel at home.
This poem is about Larkin's preoccupation with the reason he cannot feel at home and the guilt he has about feeling strange and out of place.
He is 'Lonely in Ireland, since it is not home,' and yet he was made welcome because it made sense to feel strange. These were not his 'customs and establishments'. At last he had an excuse to be out of place. He may not be entirely comfortable but 'Here no elsewhere underwrites my existence.' He can be strange here if he wants.
Abel from United Kingdom