Cut Grass

Cut grass lies frail:
Brief is the breath
Mown stalks exhale.
Long, long the death

It dies in the white hours
Of young-leafed June
With chestnut flowers,
With hedges snowlike strewn,

White lilac bowed,
Lost lanes of Queen Anne's lace,
And that high-builded cloud
Moving at summer's pace.

Analysis (ai): "Cut Grass" by Philip Larkin captures the ephemeral nature of life through the metaphor of cut grass. The poem's simple language and imagery convey a sense of loss and transience. The poem opens with the image of cut grass lying frail, suggesting vulnerability and mortality. The brief breath of the mown stalks symbolizes the brevity of life, while the long death represents the inevitability of our demise.

The following lines depict the beauty and abundance of nature in contrast to the impending death of the grass. The white hours of June, with chestnut flowers and snow-like lilac, evoke a sense of youth and vitality. The lost lanes of Queen Anne's lace and the high-builded cloud moving at summer's pace symbolize the fleetingness of time and the unstoppable march towards the end.

Larkin's poem reflects the modernist preoccupation with themes of death and mortality. It shares thematic similarities with other works by the poet, such as "The Whitsun Weddings" and "Aubade." However, "Cut Grass" stands out for its concise and understated exploration of these themes. The poem's economy of language and imagery creates a powerful and memorable meditation on the fragility and transience of human existence. (hide)

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Older comments

Kenny Wilson - Very evocative. There is a great sense of foreboding here.

on Jan 18 2023 03:44 AM PST x edit

Razz - Somehow the piece in question for long has bother the subconscious in the perfect synergy that even are the garden hedge rows but only in time to refer of the Queens Beauty .

Enjoyed it.

on Oct 08 2019 11:10 AM PST x edit

Timeteller - Cut grass and death, white hours of June, white flowers for funerals. A clever metaphor, white lilac, white lace, and white summer clouds. The funeral and remembrance of cut grass, that lingering smell of sweet death. A master of poetry.

on Oct 24 2014 08:39 AM PST x edit

Anthony o grady - Gotta be done,though

on Sep 21 2014 07:26 AM PST x edit

Comments from the archive

- From guest Sally (contact)
Oo,i kno tha question bou the line lenghts!!They short,like life is short & then the death ones signify death....i fink!?Same wi the poem,the poems short jus like life is!

on Feb 09 2007 08:18 AM PST x edit

Zara - I just have to do this:

Long, long the death it dies
in the white hours of young-leafed June
with chestnut flowers,
with hedges snowlike strewn, white lilac bowed,
lost lanes of Queen Anne's lace,
and that high-builded cloud moving at summer's pace.

because I wanted to see what it would read like if taken out of the rhyming quatrain form. What's delightful about poetry like this is that you have to read it twice, at least, once to ride the rhymes and once to catch the meaning. Larking achieves his effect with masterful use of enjambement.

I don't know why he moves from 4 syllable lines to 6 syllable lines; maybe someone else out there will figure that out. I would think that a poet of his skill did this as a conscious choice, not by accident.

on May 30 2004 08:23 AM PST x edit