Literature Poem
Church Going by Philip Larkin
,First look title: Going to church, attending mass on Sundays.
Paraphrase/summary: The speaker sneaks into a church after making sure it's empty. He
lets the door thud shut behind him and glances around at the decorations, showing his
ignorance of (or indifference to) how sacred all these things are supposed to be. After a short
pause, he walks up to the altar and reads a few lines from the notes that are sitting on a
lectern. Then he walks out of the church and slides an Irish sixpence into the collection box
(which is basically like donating an old shirt button).
The speaker thinks that the place wasn't worth stopping to check out, bhe also admits that
he did stop, and that this isn't the first time. He can't help but wonder what he's looking for
when he keeps coming back to this place, and also asks himself about what will happen to
churches when there are no more believers left in the world. He wonders if they'll make
museums out of the churches, or if they'll just leave the buildings' doors open so that sheep
can hang out inside them.
Nearing the end of the poem, he wonders what will happen to the world when religion is
gone altogether. Then he wonders what the very last religious person will be like. Will they
be an obsessive compulsive, who just can't stop wanting to smell incense? Or will they be
more like the speaker, someone who's bored and ignorant about the church, and just
passing by without knowing what they're looking for?
Finally, the speaker just comes out and admits that he's pleased by the church because it's a
serious place for serious questions. Humanity, he concludes, will always have a hunger to
ask those big questions like "Why are we here?" and "Where do we go when we die?" And
for this reason, the kind of urge that created religion in the first place will never go away,
even if organized churches do.
, Narrator: First person
People involved: The speaker
Structure: The poem has seven stanzas, each one with nine lines and ten syllables per line.
There is also an irregular rhyme scheme of ABABCDECE, which altogether gives the poem
a strict structure however the irregularities make the poem seem uneven. Larkin uses this to
illustrate the breaking down of the church as well as to make the reader feel at unrest so that
the reader can relate to how the narrator feels when he enters the church.
Furthermore, one syllable per line usually indicates iambic pentameter, however Larkin uses
commas and other forms of punctuation so that the feeling of stress-unstress is lost. There
are also irregularities; some lines are 9 syllables while others are 11.
Larkin also sets the rhyme structure so that it seems like it's ABABCECE, however the
random addition of the D line throws the reader off to further emphasise his point that in the
narrator's opinion religion and church buildings have an uncertain future and are prone to fall
apart or change.
According to the structure of the poem, it is split into three parts. In the first one the narrator
enters and describes the church, in the second he reveals his deep thought and dissaproval
for the church and in the third stanza the narrator acknowledges that the church is important
afterall. This organised structure may suggest the nature of religion and how it is uptight or
strict in the eyes of the narrator.
Symbolic reading (metaphor): The two columns of the poem indicate the two people
involved in this marriage or relationship. The blank space stands for the invisible net in their
emotional worlds implying the distance in their relationship and also the boundaries between
them. The words on each side of the invisible net are like a tennis ball going back and forth
between them.
Connotation:
The poem uses an irregular rhyme scheme of ABABCDECE in order to portray that religion
and the church have faults too, showing that the narrator does not agree with the perfect
image that people have of religion.
When one thinks of a church we think of something grand or elaborate and most importantly
special. Larkin however makes the church seem commonplace, boring, and dull. This is
done in a variety of ways:
* Trivial diction, e.g. "Another" church, the word another implies that all churches are the
same and thereby the speaker is expressing boredom with the church. He also refers to
bibles as "little books", making them seem trivial which is disrespectful because bibles are
considered to be holy. "Some brass and stuff"
* Mundane imagery, e.g. "Up at the holy end; the small neat organ", by expressing it as the
holy end and a small neat organ Larkin makes the church seem common and small as
opposed to grand and elaborate. Does not use much description, tends to list things he sees
which gives a boring image. (example: matting, seats, and stone OR little books; sprawlings
of flowers, cut For Sunday, brownish now; some brass and stuff) Brownish flowers can also
represent the decaying of the church.
Onomatopoeia is used to create an unwelcoming environment, making the church seem like
a place for people to feel uncomfortable and awkward: “Door thud shut”, creates a loud
bang, making the church seem empty. Unsettling and intimidating diction is also used for a
similar effect to make the church seem hostile: “Tense, musty, unignorable silence”,
“hectoring” and “snigger”.
Church Going by Philip Larkin
,First look title: Going to church, attending mass on Sundays.
Paraphrase/summary: The speaker sneaks into a church after making sure it's empty. He
lets the door thud shut behind him and glances around at the decorations, showing his
ignorance of (or indifference to) how sacred all these things are supposed to be. After a short
pause, he walks up to the altar and reads a few lines from the notes that are sitting on a
lectern. Then he walks out of the church and slides an Irish sixpence into the collection box
(which is basically like donating an old shirt button).
The speaker thinks that the place wasn't worth stopping to check out, bhe also admits that
he did stop, and that this isn't the first time. He can't help but wonder what he's looking for
when he keeps coming back to this place, and also asks himself about what will happen to
churches when there are no more believers left in the world. He wonders if they'll make
museums out of the churches, or if they'll just leave the buildings' doors open so that sheep
can hang out inside them.
Nearing the end of the poem, he wonders what will happen to the world when religion is
gone altogether. Then he wonders what the very last religious person will be like. Will they
be an obsessive compulsive, who just can't stop wanting to smell incense? Or will they be
more like the speaker, someone who's bored and ignorant about the church, and just
passing by without knowing what they're looking for?
Finally, the speaker just comes out and admits that he's pleased by the church because it's a
serious place for serious questions. Humanity, he concludes, will always have a hunger to
ask those big questions like "Why are we here?" and "Where do we go when we die?" And
for this reason, the kind of urge that created religion in the first place will never go away,
even if organized churches do.
, Narrator: First person
People involved: The speaker
Structure: The poem has seven stanzas, each one with nine lines and ten syllables per line.
There is also an irregular rhyme scheme of ABABCDECE, which altogether gives the poem
a strict structure however the irregularities make the poem seem uneven. Larkin uses this to
illustrate the breaking down of the church as well as to make the reader feel at unrest so that
the reader can relate to how the narrator feels when he enters the church.
Furthermore, one syllable per line usually indicates iambic pentameter, however Larkin uses
commas and other forms of punctuation so that the feeling of stress-unstress is lost. There
are also irregularities; some lines are 9 syllables while others are 11.
Larkin also sets the rhyme structure so that it seems like it's ABABCECE, however the
random addition of the D line throws the reader off to further emphasise his point that in the
narrator's opinion religion and church buildings have an uncertain future and are prone to fall
apart or change.
According to the structure of the poem, it is split into three parts. In the first one the narrator
enters and describes the church, in the second he reveals his deep thought and dissaproval
for the church and in the third stanza the narrator acknowledges that the church is important
afterall. This organised structure may suggest the nature of religion and how it is uptight or
strict in the eyes of the narrator.
Symbolic reading (metaphor): The two columns of the poem indicate the two people
involved in this marriage or relationship. The blank space stands for the invisible net in their
emotional worlds implying the distance in their relationship and also the boundaries between
them. The words on each side of the invisible net are like a tennis ball going back and forth
between them.
Connotation:
The poem uses an irregular rhyme scheme of ABABCDECE in order to portray that religion
and the church have faults too, showing that the narrator does not agree with the perfect
image that people have of religion.
When one thinks of a church we think of something grand or elaborate and most importantly
special. Larkin however makes the church seem commonplace, boring, and dull. This is
done in a variety of ways:
* Trivial diction, e.g. "Another" church, the word another implies that all churches are the
same and thereby the speaker is expressing boredom with the church. He also refers to
bibles as "little books", making them seem trivial which is disrespectful because bibles are
considered to be holy. "Some brass and stuff"
* Mundane imagery, e.g. "Up at the holy end; the small neat organ", by expressing it as the
holy end and a small neat organ Larkin makes the church seem common and small as
opposed to grand and elaborate. Does not use much description, tends to list things he sees
which gives a boring image. (example: matting, seats, and stone OR little books; sprawlings
of flowers, cut For Sunday, brownish now; some brass and stuff) Brownish flowers can also
represent the decaying of the church.
Onomatopoeia is used to create an unwelcoming environment, making the church seem like
a place for people to feel uncomfortable and awkward: “Door thud shut”, creates a loud
bang, making the church seem empty. Unsettling and intimidating diction is also used for a
similar effect to make the church seem hostile: “Tense, musty, unignorable silence”,
“hectoring” and “snigger”.
