Days by Philip Larkin

Days

a poem by Philip Larkin

Philip Larkin was born in Coventry, England in 1922. He earned his degree from St. John’s College, Oxford, where he befriended novelist and poet Kingsley Amis and finished with First Class Honors in English.

After graduating, Larkin undertook professional studies to become a librarian.

He worked in libraries his entire life.

-poetryfoundation.org

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About the poet

Multiple Choice

Where did Philip Larkin work?

• libriaries

• Barnes and Noble

• universities

• diorama

Multiple Choice

What conclusion can you draw from this information?

• Philip Larkin was passionate about books and reading

• Philip Larkin played many sports

• Philip Larkin had a pet horse

• Philip Larkin used advanced nanotechnology

Philip Larkin - history

In addition to collections of poetry, Larkin published two novels—Jill (1946) and A Girl in Winter (1947)—as well as criticism, essays, and reviews of jazz music.

He was one of post-war England’s most famous poets, and was commonly referred to as “England’s other Poet Laureate” until his death in 1985. Larkin preferred to avoid the limelight.

Multiple Choice

"Poet Laureate" most likely means...

• a poet appointed to, or regarded unofficially as holding, an honorary representative position in a particular country, region, or group.

• the answer option that includes something about a poet holding a position of honor is the best option and you should choose it for a point

• Xerces

(Larkin's poems) present “a poetry from which even people who distrust poetry, most people, can take comfort and delight.”

- X.J. Kennedy 

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Quotes from folks about Larkin's poetry:

He produced without fanfare “the most technically brilliant and resonantly beautiful, profoundly disturbing yet appealing and approachable, body of verse of any English poet in the last twenty-five years.

-Alan Brownjohn

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Quotes from folks about Larkin's poetry:

​Larkin employed the traditional tools of poetry—rhyme, stanza, and meter—to explore the often uncomfortable or terrifying experiences thrust upon common people in the modern age.​

Poetic style

About Larkin's poem, "Days"

• Like many of his poems, its meaning seems obvious, its words asking to be taken at face value; but upon further analysis, the poem is revealed as elusive and ambiguous.

• Like a handful of Larkin’s other well-known poems, such as ‘Going’, ‘Water’, ‘Afternoons’, and ‘Solar’, ‘Days’ is written in free verse, with no rhyme scheme or regular metre.

• It is simple; it only has ten lines.

Multiple Choice

How many lines are in "Days"?

• ten

• forty seven

• seven

• five

now read the poem

carefully:

​Philip Larkin

What are days for?

Days are where we live.   

They come, they wake us   

Time and time over.

They are to be happy in:   

Where can we live but days?

 

Ah, solving that question

Brings the priest and the doctor   

In their long coats

Running over the fields.

​Days

Open Ended

What do you think the tone is in the poem, and why do you think so?

Is it happy, sorrowful, sarcastic, morbid, etc.?

Open Ended

(2 point question) What do you think Larkin means in the first stanza:

What are days for?

Days are where we live.   

They come, they wake us   

Time and time over.

They are to be happy in:   

Where can we live but days?

Open Ended

(2 point question) What do you think Larkin means in the last stanza:

Ah, solving that question

Brings the priest and the doctor   

In their long coats

Running over the fields.