Send No Money - Larkin

From within the first stanza of this poem we are able to see that the persona is in the mind of a child and is also personifying time. He describes time as an 'Impendent belly'. Larkin conveys a negative outlook on time, the use of personification gives us the idea that it is looming, hanging and unpleasant. An uncertain future is also conveyed to us within this stanza when the persona says 'Tell me the truth'. This conveys the idea that he is uncertain of what is to come. The other boys in the first stanza are 'itching to have a bash' suggesting that the other boys are ignorant of their future, they just go along in life waiting for things to be given to them. However, we see that Larkin is the only one dedicated to sitting around and waiting for what is going to happen in the future through the word 'wanting'. This suggests a dedication to the future unlike all his friends. In a sense, this seems as if this is Larkin's desire as he wants to appear more superior than his friends.

Within the second stanza we see how excited the persona becomes as he is about to be told his future. Through this Larkin is suggesting that if we sit and wait in life then we get answers a lot more quickly. However, if we keep on begging this doesn't help and it just makes matters worse. From this stanza we are able to make links of Larkin being an observer through other poems such as The Whitsun Weddings, Ambulances, Self's the Man and Mr Bleaney, because in each of these poems we see that the persona or Larkin are observing something that is taking place, this then leads on to a deeper meaning that the persona or Larkin presents to us.

We see from the last stanza that the persona has watched over too many lives and has come to the realisation that 'half life is over now'. Overall the persona has come to realise that he has aged quickly and at a fast rate. We also get some personification to do with death in this stanza through the quote 'bestial visor'. The lines 'What does it prove? Sod all' suggests that the persona may regret looking at other people's lives as he forgot about his own life, this contrasts to the views expressed in the first stanza. Through this Larkin maybe commenting that the older you become the wiser you get and the more you look back on your own life and pick out the mistakes you made. Larkin comments that 'I spent youth' suggesting that he literally wasted his own youth. The fact that the poem is called 'Send No Money' suggests Larkin feels he has to live with how he has lived his life and he doesn't need repaying for it.

Poems by Larkin that link in with the theme of regret and loss would be Dockery and Son, Home Is So Sad, Wild Oats and Love Songs in Age. In regards to comparing with Abse I would say it compares with Musical Moments 2 through the idea of regret that the music teacher has died and On The Coast Road as both the characters in the poems experience ageing and look back on it's effect within their lives.