MCMXIV - Larkin

MCMXIV means 1914 in Roman numerals, this poem is a war poem to do with the beginning of the First World War. From within the first stanza we get a sense of a happy atmosphere amongst the soldiers through quotes such as 'the sun' and an 'August Bank Holiday lark'. The first stanza is used as dramatic irony by Larkin as we know that millions of them are going to die. However, during the time soldiers did consider it an August Bank Holiday lark and thought that the war would come to an end by the time of Christmas. However, Larkin does hint to us that some soldiers are rather uneasy about going off to war, they are 'grinning'. This is a form of smiling but very intensely, this could be a façade that some of the soldiers are putting on to comfort everyone, however deep down they are terrified about going off to war.

Within stanza two we get a sense of the past through words such as 'shut' and 'bleached'. We also get a sense of the old fashioned lifestyle within this stanza through various parts. For example, 'farthings and souvenirs' are forms of old money, 'dark-clothed children' gives us a further representation of the old fashioned clothing and of course 'tin advertisements' were brands that were made during the 1940s. However the 'tin' could also have a wider meaning within this poem as it represents emptiness. Maybe some of the soldiers have to feel empty about going to war, they can't convey any inner emotions.

Within stanza three we get a representation of the natural world being effected by war. Larkin comments 'countryside not caring' suggesting that a lot of the countryside wasn't effected by the war, hence why children were evacuated to the countryside. However, on the contrast we get a representation of how the war is effecting cities. 'The place names are all hazed over' suggesting that many major cities are loosing their overall identity because of the threatening invasion from Germany. We also get a sense of what is to come for the future through the quote 'shadowing Domesday lines'. This suggests an uncertain and dark future for Britain during the war. We also get an insight into how the war changed the class structure in Britain through the quote 'The differently-dressed servants with tiny rooms in huge houses, the dust behind limousines' of course all of this changed after the war because of the effects it had on the British population. People from every background helped one another and this helped us become closer as a nation and through this got rid of Britain's class structure.

The last stanza reflects how the war will effect the soldiers. The repetition of 'Never' explicitly states the fact that this was a war to end all wars and that a war on this scale should never happen again. Of course we know this is false as there are always wars across the world. The word 'innocence' suggests that the soldiers literally lost their innocence after the war, when they had come back they had changed. We get the positive imagery as well through the quote 'The thousands of marriages' suggesting that the war preserved many marriages. However we end the poem on a negative note with 'Never such innocence again' suggesting that many of the soldiers went out to die, the tragic point being that they were innocent from what the war was actually going to be like.