"Toads Revisited" poem by Philip Larkin (read by poet himself--British accent from Hull in north)
Toads Revisited Walking around in the park Should feel better than work: The lake, the sunshine, The grass to lie on, Blurred playground noises Beyond black-stockinged nurses - Not a bad place to be. Yet it doesn't suit me. Being one of the men You meet of an afternoon: Palsied old step-takers, Hare-eyed clerks with the jitters, Waxed-fleshed out-patients Still vague from accidents, And characters in long coats Deep in the litter-baskets - All dodging the toad work By being stupid or weak. Think of being them! Hearing the hours chime, Watching the bread delivered, The sun by clouds covered, The children going home; Think of being them, Turning over their failures By some bed of lobelias, Nowhere to go but indoors, Nor friends but empty chairs - No, give me my in-tray, My loaf-haired secretary, My shall-I-keep-the-call-in-Sir: What else can I answer, When the lights come on at four At the end of another year? Give me your arm, old toad; Help me down Cemetery Road. Philip Larkin lived from August 9, 1922, to December 2, 1985. Larkin is my favorite poet of post-WWII England. (As for prose. my favorite is Anthony Powell--I'm not getting off topic since Larkin and Powell knew each other and had mutual respect.) Larkin's first book of poetry, The North Ship, was published in 1946. I admire his verse but also like his advocacy of traditional jazz. Larkin liked the same music that I admire!! His verse was strikingly original--at the same time, I detect in some poems the influence of William Butler Yeats, D. H. Lawrence, and Thomas Hardy. He earned a living as a librarian in various places, including Leicester's University College Library (from 1946 to 1950) and the Brynmor Jones Library at University of Hull in Hull, England (from 1955 to 1985). He has a soothing, articulate voice--he reads each line with care and meaning! I wonder if his accent indicates where he was raised in England? Could that voice be mistaken for someone from London?
