To My Wife

Choice of you shuts up that peacock-fan
The future was, in which temptingly spread
All that elaborative nature can.
Matchless potential! but unlimited
Only so long as I elected nothing;
Simply to choose stopped all ways up but one,
And sent the tease-birds from the bushes flapping.
No future now.  I and you now, alone.

So for your face I have exchanged all faces,
For your few properties bargained the brisk
Baggage, the mask-and-magic-man's regalia.
Now you become my boredom and my failure,
Another way of suffering, a risk,
A heavier-than-air hypostasis.


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Analysis (ai): The poem reflects Larkin's ambivalence toward marriage and love. It contrasts the idealized potential of early relationships with the limitations and disappointments of later life. Compared to Larkin's other works, this poem is more explicitly personal and introspective, reflecting his own experiences and feelings about marriage. It also reflects the broader societal shift in attitudes towards marriage and relationships during the post-war era. (hide)
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Likes: Terry Collett, EmilyG., Summerspring72, Karine Landry
To reply, click a comment.
Terry Collett - Great poem
on Jun 03 2018 08:25 AM PST   x  edit  
L Char - Brutally honest, indeed. It would be interesting to hear her side of it! ;p
on Sep 17 2015 02:14 AM PST   x  edit  
AJ Morelli - This is one of the most shockingly honest poems. Brutally beautiful piece. I've adored it for years.
on Sep 15 2015 06:45 PM PST   x  edit  

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