Sara Martín Alegre P08/04540/02135

4.1.
a)
This poem reflects the lifestyle of three generations: that of the poet's elders, his
own, and that of the younger generation. The poem deals with the envy the oldest
generation felt for that of the poet, as people his age were no longer worried by the idea
of sin that had so badly affected the youth of the preceding generation. In his turn, the
poet envies the freedom of the young, especially as regards their free enjoyment of sex.
b)
They make the poem flow and also suggest the continuity between the succeeding
generations.
c)
Larkin implies that modernity is partly about being able to use language freely,
disregarding old-fashioned notions of decorum. This works in two ways: when Larkin
says about the young couple that he guesses the boy is "fucking" her, he seems to be
assimilating his language to that of the young. However, he may also be criticising their
sexual freedom, implying that what they do is only "fucking" and not "making love"
–not even "having sex". On the other hand, he may be breaking taboos associated with
his own generation, for whom "fucking" would be a "forbidden" word.
d)
The "high windows" have been identified with the actual windows of the apartment
Larkin occupied when he wrote this poem; however, this needn't be so. The "high
windows" may well be a symbol of death or an infinite, eternal peace beyond the
specific concerns of this world and perhaps beyond the passage of time and the
generations.

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© FUOC
• P08/04540/02135
37
Post-War English Literature 1945-1990
Bibliography
Source Literature
• Recommended Readings
Carter, A.
(1985). 
Nights at the Circus
. London: Picador.
Rushdie, S.
(1981). 
Midnight's Children
. London: Picador.