"Aubade" is a poem by the English poet Philip Larkin, first published in 1977.[1] The theme of the poem is the terror of death.[2] The title refers to the poetic genre of aubade, poems written about the early morning.
The clearest theme at work in ‘Aubade’ is death/mortality. Throughout this poem, Larkin’s speaker focuses on the inevitability of death and what exactly it is that he fears about it. Unlike some, he says, he is not worried about leaving things undone. The regrets that he might have in the future don’t bother him. What he thinks about most is the blackness that will greet him on the other side of death. It’ll be like anaesthesia from which he’ll never wake up. There will be no smells, thoughts, or anything to think or smell with. He’ll be entirely lost. That state of being is incredibly intimidating.
Throughout this poem, Larkin’s speaker takes the reader into his darkest thoughts, those he has early in the morning before the sun comes up. There, he thinks about his future and the fact that death is always right there at the edge of his life. There is nothing in the world that can soothe the fear of death, he says. Religion tried, but it’s useless in the face of what’s to come. The speaker also notes how it’s in these moments, when there is so “drink” or friendly faces as distractions, that the reality of death sets in. It’s going to come for you whether you whine about it or show courage in the face of it.
The poem concludes with the speaker describing the first rays of light that make their way into his room. It takes shape around him while outside people go about their lives, each one with the knowledge of death in the corner of their eye.
"Aubade" has been described by Frank Wilson of the Philadelphia Inquirer as Larkin's last truly great poem.[3] Larkin described it as an "in-a-funk-about-death" poem.[4]
References in popular culture edit
- In the television show Devs, the first three and a half stanzas of the poem are read by the actor Stephen McKinley Henderson, initially as a voiceover, but later revealed to be his character Stewart speaking it as a warning to Forest.[5]
References edit
- ^ "'Aubade' by Philip Larkin - Poem of the Week". TLS. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
- ^ "A Short Analysis of Philip Larkin's 'Aubade'". Interesting Literature. 2017-03-07. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
- ^ Wilson, Frank (28 December 2014). "A biography corrected, but still sad". www.inquirer.com. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
- ^ Rossen, Janice (1989). Philip Larkin: His Life's Work. University of Iowa Press. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-87745-271-3.
- ^ "Devs - Poetry Scene - (Aubade by Philip Larkin)". YouTube. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
External links edit
- Full text of "Aubade" at the Poetry Foundation.
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