"Annus Mirabilis" by Philip Larkin (poetry reading)

Annus Mirabilis was also the title of a poem by John Dryden published in 1667, the year after the Great Fire of London. It means "Year of Miracles".

Lady Chatterley's Lover was written in 1928 and published in Italy. It was banned in Britain because it contained four letter words and explicit descriptions of sex. The ban was lifted in the famous trial of 1960. The listing of the ban opened the floodgates and in the years following much erotica was published and plenty of explicit pornography too. I can't remember who said that the availability of pornography was the price of freedom of speech - but I have the idea it was an American President.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Chatterley's_Lover
In America, Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer followed a similar course.

The Beatles first LP was released in January, 1964. I'm sure that somebody will correct me if I have got that wrong.

The contraceptive pill was first introduced to the public in the 1960's and was held by some to be the cause of the sort of sexual promiscuity Aldous Huxley portrayed in Brave New World. In an earlier book, Chrome Yellow, a young lady says, "contraception has rendered chastity superfluous"

The relaxation of sexual taboos in the 1960's and publication of more informative material brought the ability for young people to satisfy their curiosity about sex and the freedom to discuss it openly. A reliable method of birth control helped but it wasn't the cause of the change in social habits: it was the end of imposed ignorance that made all the difference.

Larkin was 41 in 1963.

Sexual intercourse began
In nineteen sixty-three
(which was rather late for me) -
Between the end of the Chatterley ban
And the Beatles' first LP.

Up to then there'd only been
A sort of bargaining,
A wrangle for the ring,
A shame that started at sixteen
And spread to everything.

Then all at once the quarrel sank:
Everyone felt the same,
And every life became
A brilliant breaking of the bank,
A quite unlosable game.

So life was never better than
In nineteen sixty-three
(Though just too late for me) -
Between the end of the Chatterley ban
And the Beatles' first LP.

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Tags:

• Annus
• Mirabilis
• Philip
• Larkin

[thallassocracy]

John Mortimer had some interesting things to say about the relaxation of sexual taboos. He always maintained that it was the war which first imposed libertinism (use it or loose it), with a slight and temporary return to 'sound morals' for around ten years after 1947. I suspect lots of younger readers don't grasp just how historically accurate Larkin's piece was.

As you say, the Pill didn't change attitudes;- just practice.

(I think you will find it's Crome Yellow).

[SpokenVerse]

Yes, the book was Crome Yellow, a pun on the name of the house but - even worse - it wasn't from that book: it was said by the young Irene in Those Barren Leaves.

[scifiwritir]

Wow!!! Great poem. Hadn't heard of it before. Not quite sure if all that free sex was an "unlosable game." And I suspect the poet also thinks so...retaining a bit of the 1963 moral shame and guilt. Thanks for uploading.

[beaulieu4008]

Great poem! Thanks again!

[Bernie150]

The Beatles' first LP was 'Please Please Me', in 1963.

'Meet The Beatles!', which is shown here in the video, was a USA release from 1964, with a different, though overlapping, songlisting.

[Chomuno]

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL POEM!

There is no word to say what I feel, guy!

[thallassocracy]

But Mary Bracegirdle says something very similar in Crome Yellow.

'Real culture begins when you have forgotten which book' (Ezra Pound).

(or somebody) ...

[thallassocracy]

And that should have read 'use it or lose it'.

[homousios]

thank you for this"Annus Mirabilis". I did not know there was a poem by Dryden with the same name. The only time I encountered the term is in referrence to Newtn. Come to think of it the 1960s were a real turning point

[sourissourissouris]

:) love this... I'm always so happy to find a new one in my subs... it's a thrill of surprise & a journey down the history - the 60s surely being the best, though I wasn't born yet... I really appreciate your effort to supply is with all the context of the poem!

...each day is a drive thru history...