19 pages • 38 minutes read
Talking in Bed
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“An Arundel Tomb“ by Philip Larkin (1964)
When Larkin visited Chichester Cathedral in 1956, he noticed a monument to the fourteenth-century Earl of Arundel and his wife that showed them lying together, hand in hand. The poem he wrote after this visit is a meditation on death, time, and love. The final line, “What will survive of us is love,” is one of Larkin’s most famous. However, the line must be read in context; the speaker of Larkin’s poem qualifies this statement in the penultimate line of the poem, pointing out that the earl and his wife prove “Our almost-instinct almost true.” The qualifier “almost” appears twice in the poem, making the tidy and optimistic-seeming conclusion problematic. The word “almost” suggests a cautious, guarded attitude, typical of Larkin who is famous for his skepticism of love.
“The Whitsun Weddings“ by Philip Larkin (1964)
One Saturday afternoon in May or June, the speaker of the poem takes a train to London. Each time the train stops at a station, a newlywed couple steps on as the wedding party stands on the platform and waves them goodbye. It appears that it is the season for marriage. The speaker describes the joyful wedding parties, and he is aware of their new happiness, but in the last four lines, the brakes that are applied to the train and the cryptic image of falling rain suggest that happiness may not last long. The speaker of the poem travels alone and makes observations only by looking through the window, confirming his position as a detached observer rather than a participant.
“The Ache of Marriage“ by Denise Levertov (1964)
Like “Talking in Bed,” this poem expresses the difficulty of seeking intimate communion with a partner, in the context, in this case, of marriage. The intimacy the couple seeks seems unattainable, hence the “ache” of marriage.
Further Literary Resources
Philip Larkin: A Writer’s Life by Andrew Motion (1993)
Poet and literary critic Andrew Motion knew Larkin at the University of Hull, and his biography of Larkin presents a full picture of Larkin’s life and work, showing many links between the man and the poems. The biography was controversial, however, since it did not present Larkin in a positive light. Critics of the biography complained that the poet came across as a bigot, a misogynist, and a racist, with a right-wing mind-set that harbored deep prejudice against anything that was not English. Along with the publication of Selected Letters of Philip Larkin in 1992 in England and in the United States the following year, Motion’s biography proved damaging to Larkin’s reputation, although in the twenty-first century, critics have restored his high standing.
Philip Larkin (Readers’ Guides to Essential Criticism, 36) by Robert C. Evans (2016)
Evans provides a concise overview of critical responses to Larkin’s work, arranged in chronological order. The book provides a good understanding of Larkin’s reputation in twentieth-century English poetry and is an excellent source for students who are researching his work.
"Philip Larkin, His Work and Life," by Martin Amis found In Philip Larkin: Poems (2011)
Novelist Martin Amis is the son of Larkin’s close friend Kingsley Amis, and he also knew Larkin personally. In this lively introduction to Amis’s selection of Larkin’s poems, Amis offers readers a fresh assessment of Larkin’s work and comments on his sometimes misunderstood personality.
Listen to Poem
Philip Larkin reads “Talking in Bed.”
Unlock all 19 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 9,150+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
