Reasons for Attendance (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Philip Larkin
- First Published: 1955
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Love or romance, Sex or sexuality, Art or artists, Women, Dancing or dancers, Happiness, Bells
The Poem
“Reasons for Attendance” is a short poem of twenty lines that is divided into four cinquains with regular rhyme scheme based primarily on slant rhymes. The title hints at Philip Larkin’s multiple concerns in the poem. He ponders why the young couples with “flushed face” move “to and fro” inside the dance hall while he remains outside. Similarly, he considers why he, despite his protests that he does not need the happiness inside the hall, is drawn “To watch the dancers”—that is, to “attend” to them, in the archaic sense of “give heed...
[The entire page is 1484 words long]
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