The Whitsun Weddings (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Philip Larkin
- First Published: 1964
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: Traveling or travelers, Tradition, Lower classes, Trains, Weddings, Great Britain, Jewelry, Clothing or dress
The Poem
“The Whitsun Weddings” is a deceptively leisurely sounding poem in eight ten-line stanzas. The title refers to the British tradition of marrying on the weekend of Whitsunday or Pentecost (the seventh Sunday after Easter) to take advantage of the early summer “bank holiday” or long weekend. The rhyme scheme (ababcdecde) and meter (the second line of each stanza has four syllables; all the others have ten syllables each) are highly structured but unobtrusive.
The first-person speaker, who seems to be identified with Philip Larkin himself, is on his...
[The entire page is 1586 words long]
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