The Whitsun Weddings is a collection of 32 poems by Philip Larkin. It was first published by Faber and Faber in the United Kingdom on 28 February 1964. It was a commercial success, by the standards of poetry publication, with the first 4,000 copies being sold within two months. A U.S. edition appeared some seven months later.
It contains many of Larkin's best known poems, such as 'The Whitsun Weddings', 'Days', 'Mr Bleaney', 'MCMXIV', and 'An Arundel Tomb'.
In a number of critiques, themes have been identified which run through the poems in the collection.[1]
Bachelorhood and Marriage
Larkin never married and many of his poems can be interpreted as personal, and social, explorations into marriage and bachelorhood. Poems with strong interpretations concerning relationships might include;
Consumerism and the changing British 'Landscape'
Larkin's poetry has often been interpreted as portraying a personal nostalgia for orthodoxy and tradition. Many of his poems draw the readers attention to the urbanisation of the British landscape, the rise of a consumer based society and the slipping away of traditions. Many poems are set within the context of a journey which maps out these changing landscapes both literally and metaphorically.[2] As Stephen Regan writes 'Larkin came to be identified with an essential and enduring Englishness.'[3] It has been suggested that Larkin's inclination towards strict metrical structures and rhyme schemes is perhaps homage to more traditional poetic voices; and a resistance to this social change and his contemporaries' free verse poetry. Poems with strong interpretations concerning consumerism and the British landscape might include;
Death, Futility and Ignorance
Larkin is often considered as casting a rather miserable light on human existence. His cynical eye often questions the existential concerns of life - trying to find meaning to life in the face of death and understand how other people can remain ignorant. The measuring of life's worth and the search for happiness (of sorts) can be seen to dominate his poetry. Nearly all poems consist of a level of existential questioning but the more prominent ones in this collection might include;