Interplay Of Thought And Style: Revisiting The Theme Of "Alienation" In Philip Larkin’s Poetry

Living in the highly urbanized and industrialized modern British society,Philip Larkin is keenly aware of the “alienation” between man and nature,man and society,and man and the self,which have seriously impinged on human life and social harmony.A strong sense of mission has prompted Larkin to write about alienation as the human condition of the time,hoping to arouse public awakening.Larkin’s profound thought and deep anxiety about “alienation” are mainly embodied in his three collections of poems,namely The Less Deceived（1955）,The Whitsun Weddings（1964）and High Windows（1974）.Focusing on thirteen representative poems from the volumes,this thesis systematically investigates the themes of “alienation” and their artistic representations in Larkin’s poetry through the methods of contextual examination,thematic induction,case study,stylistic and cognitive-poetics analysis,which is beneficial to the exploration of the ideological and artistic values of Larkin’s poetry.With superb poetic skills,Larkin invites the readers to experience alienation and even oppositions between man and nature,man and society,and man and the self in modern society.Armed with poetic force,he aims at eliminating the erosion of alienation in modern life and reminds people that they should treat technological progress and economic development dialectically,guard against any traps of instrumental rationality,money worship and commodity fetishism.On top of these,he urges people to reform themselves and return to tradition to achieve harmonious coexistence with “the other.”Different aspects of the themes of “alienation” are stressed by different poems,each of which is worth thorough explication and holistic consideration.Larkin’s wise thought,sincere emotion and ironic attitude are often concealed in the minutiae of his work,conveyed by the language he uses.Only through careful study of the interplay of thought and style in the poems,can we fully understand Larkin’s motivation behind the themes and figure out the “useless utility” of his poetry.