Abse- Two Photographs

This poem is about the persona having two grandmothers, they are both very different yet he loves them both the same despite their faults. Annabella is described as "How slim she appears, how vulnerable.Pretty." This description is very feminine, however Doris is described more unfeminine "How portly she looks, formidable. Handsome." There are also vivid lists of both women that show a definite difference between them, Doris- "feasted- pacy, pushy, would never pray", and Annabella- "fasted- pious, passive". The family was Jewish but I don't think that Doris followed the religion as the persona recalls her eating pork. Abse's poems are quite different to Larkins as Abse writes his inner thoughts, his poems are bringing people back to life that exist in his memory not in others whilst Larkin does not. Furthermore they are also different because Larkin and Abse both have different attitudes and feelings towards women. This poem can be linked to many of Larkins poems such as Self's the man, as the persona is listing the differences between himself and Arnold. Also Love songs in age and reference back as the photograph in this poem triggers his memory of his grandmothers and their differences like in love songs in age as the music that is played triggers memories of the past, reference back is to do with a memory of the persona's. 

A scene from Married Life

This poem is about a couple who squabble, he then has a period of reflection, cools off then they both renew their love for one another. "a dead bird eaten by the early worm" implies that he did not prepare for the break up and also did not put the effort in to start with to make up again. "I crawled to the shore" suggests that he is trying to seek forgiveness from his wife. He talks about having his "own cold wars during the real Cold War were few and brief" suggesting they did not usually argue but if they did, they would soon make up. The key themes in this poem is love and loss, to start with the love is there but not shown but by the end when the made up, they expressed there love. The "ghosts" could imply the past but the love for his wife will never end.

The Malham Bird

This poem is about a past memory of Abse's with his wife on a holiday. I think he was truly in love with his wife-"Dear wife" and I can see that he loves her even though he's Jewish and she is not-love vs religion. The next couple of stanzas imply that he is a personal poet as he describes the room they stayed in, the experience and the three grandchildren which he seems proud of. From the notes "According to Jewish legend, the Malham bird of Eden obeyed the commandment not to eat of the forbidden fruit and so lives forever in paradise". Shows that the bird in the poem did not go by this and ate the fruit whilst other birds carried on singing, making the bird lonely and immortal. This poem shows a positive view with love and marriage similar to Larkins- Whitsun Weddings poem because they both pursue love and happiness in both. Although Larkin negatively writes about them you can imply from the descriptions that the couples are

happily married.

Last Visit to 198 Cathedral Road

This poem is about re-visiting the place where his parents used to live before they passed away. I get the impression that the parents passed a while before he visited the house as there was "so must dust". At the end of the poem he is left alone similar to A Winter Visit as he has a dying mother, who is near the end of her life. A big key theme in this poem is death, he does not call the 'living room' its normal name any more and calls it the "Dying room" implying both of his parents passed away in the room. If we imagined this room it would be dark, dusty and haunted, as the house has had no care or attention since the parents passed. Abse personifies the vase-" the vase that yawned hideously", which makes the room seem more lifeless. Deterioration is another key theme in the poem-"photo phobic crack in the ceiling". Shows that the house is slowly deteriorating because its been abandoned.

The Winter Visit

The poem is about the son taking his ninety year old mother for a walk through the park on a cold winter day. They see peacocks which emblems life, but his mother is slowly dying- "This winter I'm half dead, son". And he wants to get upset but he knows that crying wont change anything for his mother. Key themes in the poem is Ageing, death and dying, illness, family, and relationships. I can imply that him and his mother are close and he does not want her to leave him. This poem is similar to Larkin's-Ambulances because its about holding onto life by the thread and not letting go like the persona is to his mother in The Winter Visit. Both are about losing family members and life becoming less and less.