Critical Analysis Week Four

After reading W.H. Auden's, "Poetry as Memorable Speech" and Philip Larkin's poems, I came to the conclusion that certain poems are worth remembering and they have particular meanings to them. Larkin is an optimist and writes in a gleeful-mournful tone. His poems typically have lessons to be learned at the end. According to Auden, poetry "must move our emotions, or excite our intellect, for only that which is moving or exciting is memorable." I agree with Auden's statement and I found this apparent in Philip Larkin's poem, "Reasons for Attendance." In this poem, the speaker is observing young girls dancing. Of course, Larkin might find this dancing fun and entertaining at first, but not for very long. By the end of the poem, the speaker realizes that he doesn't need to be with any of the women dancing and finds them useless. They are simply not for him. Obviously, this poem takes place outside of a strip club, although I originally thought the speaker was looking at pin-up girls in a glass window. This poem did provoke emotion out of me and I agree with the speaker's choice at the end. The line, "Why be out there? But then, why be in there? Sex, yes" struck a chord with me. I believe the speaker is saying that life out there in the real world is difficult, but why would you want to stay trapped inside forever? These women convey sex and will probably only be sexual objects in the eyes of men. The women are all under the age of 25, so at that age they seem to have no ambition. Their life will only be dancing for others to enjoy. Like I said before, I agree with the speaker's choice that the strippers are not for him, because who would want to settle with one? These women are trapped and dancing is the only routine in their lives. They have no goals, other than to dance. Auden states, "poetry is not concerned with telling people what to do, but only leading us to the point where it is possible for us to make a rational and moral choice." I believe that the speaker did make this moral choice in the end. He says, "But not for me, nor I for them; and so with happiness. Therefore I stay outside." He doesn't want to "corrupt" himself and cloud his judgment by going into the strip club and staying there. This was the lesson to be learned in the end. I see that this poem is memorable speech, because it deals with women and how they live their lives. These women in particular subject themselves to sex and dancing, so they are only needed for entertainment purposes. Those with rational minds don't need to be there. (like the speaker) There is a line in the poem where the speaker describes the women dancing "solemnly on the beat of happiness." When I read that line, I wondered if the women were truly happy in their positions. Since the word solemn means serious or grave, how can you be happy at the same time? This line is defiinitely an oxymoron. I believe that the dancers are forced to look happy while they perform, when they really, truly aren't. I said that Larkin's speech is gleeful-mournful in general. In "Reasons for Attendance," the speaker seems gleeful in the beginning while he watches the women dance, but then changes direction when he decides that they are not for him. That in a way could be mournful. The title played a significant role in the poem, because in the end, I believe the speaker questioned why he went to the strip club. The conclusion was that it was pointless.