Broadcast

Broadcast is a love poem from Larkin to a woman

called Maeve Brennan. The poem consists of Larkin expressing his feelings

towards Maeve using his dislikes as a bridge between them.

Larkin uses the music to try and connect with Maeve.

On first glance the poem seems to be another depressing poem; it could be seen to be about death – ‘your gloves unnoticed on the floor’, ‘new, slightly-outmoded shoes’, ‘I lose all but the outline’

What the Poem is About

Larkin’s Techniques

A Giant whispering and coughing fromB Vast Sunday-full and organ-frowned-on spacesA Precede a sudden scuttle on the drum,C ‘The Queen’, and huge resettling. Then beginsC A snivelling of the violins:B I think of your face among all those faces,

Caesura – Punctuation in the middle of the sentence

Anthropomorphism – Making an object seem alive: creates the objects to seem worse than they are

Rhyming Scheme – Doesn’t change; like their love?

Pathetic Fallacy – Autumn is mentioned, which is the end of summer; could be linked to his love ending

Arundel Tomb: Romantic views of love, an

artistic look upon love linking to music which is one of the romantic arts.

Love Songs in Age: Talks of music telling a story, main focus is how love and music link together.

Wild Oats: Reinforces how Larkin goes for women out of his leagues.

Links to Other Poems

Larkin feels that the woman he loves doesn’t

love him as much as she loves music, this could be why he makes the music sound bad as he wishes that she loved him more.

After reading Maeve’s response to the poem it is obvious that she see’s Larkin as a friend as she seems to feel that the poem is more of a joke.

Context