Philip Larkin is considered to be one of the greatest poets of the 20th century.
Early Life
Philip Larkin was born in Coventry in 1922. His father, Sydney, was the town treasurer. His mother Eva was essentially a servant to his dominant father. The family virtually never had visitors, and Philip was educated at home as a child by his mother and sister who was nearly ten years his senior.
Some scholars of Philip Larkin have suggested that the situation of his family life may have had an influence on him that was not entirely positive, citing his father's cold personality and admiration of Hitler in the 1930s. However, his father's interest in jazz may have fostered Philip's lifelong appreciation for it, buying him musical instruments and lessons in spite of his frugality.
Education and Development as a Poet
After an extended career at Senior School where he originally failed his exams, Larkin started at St John's college Oxford as a scholarship student in English in 1940. Poor eyesight disqualified him from military service during WWII and he was able to study the full three years while many of his contemporaries were going to war, eventually earning a first class degree.
During the course of his studies he also worked on his own writing, which he shared with a group of writers which included Kingsley Amis, who was to become a lifelong friend. At Oxford, Larkin also befriended John Wain and Bruce Montgomery, among others.
Because his stammer dissuaded him from teaching and he was turned down for the civil service, Larkin found a job at the public library in Wellington, Shropshire. He studied to be a librarian while continuing to write, holding several librarian jobs before settling at the University of Hull in spring of 1955.
Publications and Honors
Larkin published four collections of poetry: The North Ship (The Fortune Press, 1945, ISBN 9 780571105 0 38), Less Deceived (The Mavell Press, 1955, ISBN 978 0900533068) which was his first mature collection, The Whitsun Weddings (Faber and Faber, 1964, ISBN 9780571097104), and High Windows (Faber and Faber, 1974, ISBN 9780571114511). His Collected Poems (1988, 2003, newest ed. ISBN 9780571216543) were published posthumously by Faber & Faber which has also put out new editions of the earlier collections.
Two of Larkin's novels have been published, along with a collection of his short fiction and several collections of essays and jazz reviews from the Daily Telegraph.
Later Life and Legacy
As the unofficial head of a group of poets known simply as The Movement, which included Amis and Wain, Larkin's work is often seen as a break with the romantic excesses of modernism and a return to traditional form.
Larkin was an outspoken critic of modernism in writing and as a jazz critic. He admired John Betjeman and like him, used rhyme and meter, making his work accessible to people who might not otherwise be interested in poetry. His poem "This Be the Verse" continues to be well known and many people in Britain can recite at least the first stanza.
However, some poets such have accused Larkin of being too traditional and not wanting to take risks with his work. The publication of an edition of his collected letters revealed him to be stodgy and critics saw him as racist. However, the positive reception history of his published collections has held up over time, and he continues to be widely considered one of the most important postwar poets. It may be precisely his maladjustment to modern life that allowed him to write poems full of emotion that held consolation both for himself and readers.
Sources and Further Reading
For more information, look up the Wikipedia entry for Philip Larkin, or this excellent article on "Poet as Pessimist" from the Weekly Standard. The Times Literary Supplement also has a detailed account of Larkin's first ever interview given to the British press.
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