Analysis of Home is so Sad

Philip Larkin 1922 (Coventry) – 1985 (Hull)



Home is so sad. It stays as it was left,
Shaped to 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.


Scheme ABABA XCXCX
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Etheree  (20%)
Metre 1111111111 1101010111 1111110101 110111101 1011110101 0101111101 0101111111 1101111111 1101000100 01000010111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 386
Words 83
Sentences 6
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 5, 5
Lines Amount 10
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 150
Words per stanza (avg) 42
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Submitted by RobertHaigh on August 05, 2020

Modified on April 16, 2023

24 sec read
172

Philip Larkin

Philip Larkin was born in 1922 and grew up in Coventry, England. He earned his BA from St John's College, Oxford, and finished with First Class Honours in English. In 1955 he became Librarian of the Brynmor Jones Library at the University of Hull, a post he held until his death in 1985. He was the best-loved poet of his generation, and the recipient of innumerable honours, including the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. more…

All Philip Larkin poems | Philip Larkin Books

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