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Poet: Philip Larkin
Poem: Wires
Volume: XX Poems
Year: Published/Written in 1950
Comment 3 of 3, added on June 12th, 2009 at 8:14 AM.
'always finding something new and interesting to do'. I'm not sure they ever do get beyond the wires. They may want to but they can't escape. The wires aren't any literal authority but life, society, the tangible. Our youthful hopes are crushed violently by the realisation that we are fenced in and once we realise, once we give up on finding an exit from this mediocre world, we become old cattle.
Toby from United Kingdom
Comment 2 of 3, added on June 9th, 2009 at 12:13 PM.
This particular rhyme scheme is called arch-rhyme.
Rachel's analysis is perfect, but i'd like to add a final consideration. Larkin conveys the "wisdom" of conformity and implictly critizices society's limitations imposed to its whole population.
Piero from Italy
Comment 1 of 3, added on February 27th, 2005 at 10:49 AM.
Wires is a lovely poem.Taken literally it is simply a poem about a bunch of cows but on a symbolic level it is about the rebelliousness of youth and the problems they have with authority.They are the 'young steers' who are scenting new waters -they are always finding something new and interesting to do. The elctric fence is the law or authority who dispense justice on these cattle. When the youth have been dealt with by '...muscle shredding violence...' they become 'old steers', with the law a firm guiding system in their life.They will no longer search out new water because they do not want to 'blunder up against wires...'.
It's quite sympatheic in tone and I think Larkin feels quite sad that their freedom and innocence has been lost once they go against that electric fence, which will be ever present in their minds.
Another interesting thing to note about this poem is the rhyme scheme.The first and last lines of the poem rhmes and the second line and second to last line rhyme and so on.Sadly I can't remember the correct term for this sort of rhmye.
Rachel from United Kingdom
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'always finding something new and interesting to do'. I'm not sure they ever do get beyond the wires. They may want to but they can't escape. The wires aren't any literal authority but life, society, the tangible. Our youthful hopes are crushed violently by the realisation that we are fenced in and once we realise, once we give up on finding an exit from this mediocre world, we become old cattle.
Toby from United Kingdom