Reaction to The Whitsun Weddings poems

My overall impressions of the Whitsun Weddings so far are that each poem seems to highlight a certain theme across to the reader. For example, the theme of death came up in a few poems. As did themes such as Isolation, Love and Religion. Within the poem 'Here' it seemed as though that Larkin was taking us on a journey. I say taking 'us' on a journey because it also seemed that in this poem Larkin presented his writing as if he is 'the detached observer'. For example the way in which he describes places and reference to movement and speed support this idea because it doesn't seem that Larkin is on the journey, rather just describing it. It's as if he was observing the journey as if he was the 'omniscient narrator' and that his intention was to take us on his journey. I believe he did this to create a more visionary experience for the reader rather than his own actual experience. Following on from this it creates a sense of 'setting' within this poem and 'the natural world' because we are being taken on a journey by Larkin therefore we are going to be taken through different settings. However in the poem 'The Whitsun Weddings' Larkin describes the train journey within the first person to give the reader a sense of visionary within his own perspective. In this poem Larkin actually seems to be on the train so we get a sense of the 'natural world' through his perspective and we learn this from him as readers. For example when Larkin describes himself travelling through Lincolnshire and the industrial north it gives us a sense of setting and where Larkin is in the world. I look forward to reading The Whitsun Weddings poems in greater detail in class and identifying other prominent themes in the rest of the poems.