Ignorance - Larkin

Ignorance is an abstract poem and falls under one of the belief poem by Larkin. The first line 'Strange to know nothing, never to be sure of what is true or right or real'. These are abstract feelings which represents uncertanity to Larkin's beliefs. The title itself 'Ignorance' represents an uncaring nature or something selfish, this in turn gives off a negative feel to this poem. It seems as if Larkin is ignorant of other people's beliefs because they are not concrete. Hence the abstract nature of this poem. The tentative, uncertain phrasing continues throughout stanza one through the quote 'or so I feel, or well, it does seem so: someone must know'.

We get the repetiton of 'strange' in the second stanza three times. This again conveys abstract feelings that are negative because 'strange' conveys something unfamiliar and unknown. Larkin comments that he is 'ignorant of the way things work', suggesting the fact that he has no knowledge of the wider world. He is essentially ignorant to the beliefs of others or the way in which the world generally works. This sense of the unknown is further conveyed through the reptition of 'their' that conveys a grouping of something unknown. 'And willingness to change' could represnt that Larkin thinks people may change their beliefs in order to fit in and follow the crowd more. People in general don't have right or wrong opinions about beliefs in life.

The tentative and uncertain phrasing continues through the last stanza through the quote 'for our flesh'. We come to a more philsophical meaning towards the end of this poem and this is a common theme in Larkin's collection of belief poems. 'And yet spend all our lives on imprecisions' links to this aspect of life choices. Larkin is questioning the fact that do we make the right choices in life. This is a prominent theme in many other Larkin poems such as Dockery and Son and Self's the Man. It seems as though Larkin is conveying the view that manyof us make life choices in life, the question is do we make the right ones? 'That when we start to die' suggests that Larkin thinks death creeps up on us when we least expect it. The ending of this poem is also interesting, Larkin comments 'Have no idea why'. This reinforces that this is the end. Larkin's relgious belief is that there is no life after death.

Overall this poem focusses on philosophical meanings because beliefs are its main theme. The poem also addresses Larkin's religious beliefs and his wider views on life.