Talking in bed ought to be easiest,
Lying together there goes back so far,
An emblem of two people being honest.
Yet more and more time passes silently.
Outside, the wind's incomplete unrest
Builds and disperses clouds in the sky,
And dark towns heap up on the horizon.
None of this cares for us. Nothing shows why
At this unique distance from isolation
It becomes still more difficult to find
Words at once true and kind,
Or not untrue and not unkind.
By Philip Larkin
Lying together there goes back so far,
An emblem of two people being honest.
Yet more and more time passes silently.
Outside, the wind's incomplete unrest
Builds and disperses clouds in the sky,
And dark towns heap up on the horizon.
None of this cares for us. Nothing shows why
At this unique distance from isolation
It becomes still more difficult to find
Words at once true and kind,
Or not untrue and not unkind.
By Philip Larkin
This poem makes me think about a couple, i'm sure its a man and a woman, possibly middle aged, who have been together for a long time. They live on the outskirts of a large city, in a sort of run down house, and they both go off to the same old jobs every day, not anything that they particularly like, just something that they've sort of stuck with due to lack of motivation.
ReplyDeleteAnd I guess this is why they have stuck with each other too, not because they ever really liked each other, but they weren't motivated to seek out anything better. And so, the years go on, and their lives stay the same, but they slowly are realizing that whatever their dreams were, they are not going to happen, and with nothing to hope for, the daily activities become more irritable, they get mad at small things that the other says, etc. They don't bother to go out because neither of them feels in a good enough mood to suggest it, so whatever memories of happy things that they did together in the past are getting distant.
But still, they do lie together, and stay together, and I think they must at some low level love each other, even if it just came into existence through force of habit or whatever... they have sad lives but at least they just have a shared sad life loll
oh and they don't have any kids.
ReplyDeletehmmm yes, sad shared lives, but they lack communication so they must be feeling lonely. they also feel the outside world cares nothing for them (yorue right no motivation gives them like a sucky attitude...) and no kids eh. hmm
ReplyDeletewhy would they not have kids. and whats the significance of that i wonder. true kids arent mentioned. love or marriage isnt mentioned either. as if its not important really that you only sleep with whoever youre married to? or because its obvious that theyd only sleep to who theyre married to ??
no kids - also means that none of their own blood line will be remaining once they die, in the literal sense. time will move on and leave them behind