A case of red herrings: Englishness in the poetry of Philip Larkin and Ted Hughes

Rowland, AC

Abstract

Alvarez’s introduction to The New Poetry – written in 1960 - has often been read as polarising the work of Larkin and Hughes. Such a critical stance cannot account for the connections between the writers in terms of their occasional engagement with each other’s work, and the unpublished correspondence held at Emory University. Hughes’s most famous Laureate poem, ‘Rain-charm for the Duchy’, can be read as a partial re-writing of Larkin poems ‘The Whitsun Weddings’ and ‘Water’ (read from h’out). The rain that ends ‘The Whitsun Weddings’, and the ‘sousing’ in ‘Water’, reappear as the tumultuous downpour to celebrate the christening of Prince Harry. Specific phrases from ‘The Whitsun Weddings’ reappear in ‘Rain-charm for the Duchy’, such as the ‘bunting-dressed,/Coach-party annexes’ which become the ‘tourist bunting’ in Hughes’s poem. Other connections are evident: swelling at the end of ‘The Whitsun Weddings’ indicates the possibility of future procreation for the wedding couples (h’out); this becomes the ‘tors’ in Hughes’s poem. ‘Tors’, a hill or rocky peak (you’ll be familiar with this term if you’ve ever been to Devon), originates from the Latin ‘torus’, a ‘swelling’, ‘bulge’ or ‘cushion’. This is connected with the ‘girl in high heels’ in ‘Rain-charm for the Duchy’, who is ‘cuffed’ by surf in an image of insemination, adding sexual piquancy to Larkin’s image in ‘Water’ of a ‘fording’ congregation.

Citation

Rowland, A. (2004). A case of red herrings: Englishness in the poetry of Philip Larkin and Ted Hughes. In D. Rogers, & J. McLeod (Eds.), The revision of Englishness (81-94). Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press

• Publication Date: Dec 9, 2004
• Deposit Date: Jan 23, 2009
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 23, 2009
• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Pages: 81-94
• Book Title: The revision of Englishness
• ISBN: 9780719069727
• Publisher URL: http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/catalogue/book.asp?id=1349
• Related Public URLs: http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/
• Additional Information: Additional Information : Chapter 6 within book.