Larkin's Wonderful World

Paper Summary:

This paper analyses the influences on the poetry of Phillip Larkin in relation to Ezra Pound's principles of Logopoeia as described in his "How to Read". It looks at Larkin's objection to Pound's abstract principle of Logopoeia, by which all words hold historical and poetic significance by their being charged with their use by the poet's predecessors. It shows how this is deconstructed by his use of the imagery of the blues in his poetry.

From the Paper:

"Further evidence for the inconsistency of Larkin's objection to the use of allusions in poems to other poems or poets can be seen in 'Deceptions'. His alteration of Ophelia's line 'I was the more deceived' to 'That you were less deceived' undermines the dominance of the rapist - parallel to Hamlet's control of Ophelia - by suggesting that he is 'more deceived' in pursuing sexual 'fulfillment' than any victim experiencing suffering which at least has clear causes and effects. The modification of this allusion was important enough to Larkin for 'The Less Deceived' to later become the title of the whole collection of poems in which 'Deceptions' appeared."

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