‘Skin’
‘Skin’ by Philip Larkin speaks on the importance of a person’s identity and specifically the connection
with the skin. This poem points out how society has set a standard for what a person’s skin should
be like, ignoring the beauty in letting it age naturally without any type of shame associated with it.
Larkin expresses the loyalty our skin has for us whilst we choose to celebrate fleeting fashion trends
over the companionship of the most important part of our identity: our skin.
Different themes
Passage of time
Social expectation
Key poems to link to and why:
No Road- time is depicted as spoiling
Key aspects of form and structure:
Embedded rhyme to perhaps create a sense of connection- this is a theme of the poem
(connection with skin)
Regularity of rhyme reflects the inevitability of the aging process, but also on some lines
there is a jarring interruption amplifying the lack of control we have over this perhaps.
Key methods and arguments of the poem:
Speaker makes a connection with his skin from the opening of his poem:
Use of second person as poem uses second person to make it seem as though the speaker
were talking to his skin, like it were a person.
‘Obedient daily dress’- skin is a permanent part of your identity, obedient in the sense that
your skin will take whatever conditions you throw its way and is of one few consistent things
we take with us through life. Our skin is almost like out companion.
Depiction of the passage of time as something harsh and oppressive:
‘Continuous coarse sand-laden wind, time’
o Concept of time as something constantly moving and catching up with us like wind.
Like time, wind is intangible and also a natural process.
o Time is ‘coarse’ suggesting it is rough in texture, perhaps connoting to the impact it
has on our skin therefore. As it is ‘sand laden’ this may suggest time is battering, as
‘laden’ implies we are weighted down by it.
o Time is ‘continuous’- no matter how hard we may try to push it back and prevent the
aging process, this is a hopeless pursuit.
‘Skin’ by Philip Larkin speaks on the importance of a person’s identity and specifically the connection
with the skin. This poem points out how society has set a standard for what a person’s skin should
be like, ignoring the beauty in letting it age naturally without any type of shame associated with it.
Larkin expresses the loyalty our skin has for us whilst we choose to celebrate fleeting fashion trends
over the companionship of the most important part of our identity: our skin.
Different themes
Passage of time
Social expectation
Key poems to link to and why:
No Road- time is depicted as spoiling
Key aspects of form and structure:
Embedded rhyme to perhaps create a sense of connection- this is a theme of the poem
(connection with skin)
Regularity of rhyme reflects the inevitability of the aging process, but also on some lines
there is a jarring interruption amplifying the lack of control we have over this perhaps.
Key methods and arguments of the poem:
Speaker makes a connection with his skin from the opening of his poem:
Use of second person as poem uses second person to make it seem as though the speaker
were talking to his skin, like it were a person.
‘Obedient daily dress’- skin is a permanent part of your identity, obedient in the sense that
your skin will take whatever conditions you throw its way and is of one few consistent things
we take with us through life. Our skin is almost like out companion.
Depiction of the passage of time as something harsh and oppressive:
‘Continuous coarse sand-laden wind, time’
o Concept of time as something constantly moving and catching up with us like wind.
Like time, wind is intangible and also a natural process.
o Time is ‘coarse’ suggesting it is rough in texture, perhaps connoting to the impact it
has on our skin therefore. As it is ‘sand laden’ this may suggest time is battering, as
‘laden’ implies we are weighted down by it.
o Time is ‘continuous’- no matter how hard we may try to push it back and prevent the
aging process, this is a hopeless pursuit.
