"Best Society" by Philip Larkin (poetry)

Call him misanthropic if you like, but Larkin's more self-aware and honest than most people.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• best
• society
• solitude
• Philip
• Larkin
• poem

[sickassegal]

can some one please explain this to me lol, i want to understand but im too stupid too

ive looked up all the words i dont understand and everything, i still dont get it, its something got to do with being lonely?

[julesthemadman]

An earlier version, clearly, of Vers de Societe from High Windows (1974)

[GRJones92hk]

Bloody misanthrope, I hate him!

[insight9111]

This is a wonderful reading...and I tend to agree with the notion that too much expression can alter intent and spoil the deciphering of the words by the individual. On the other extreme, you didn't flat line it either...all in all, a successful tightrope walk.

[altosax1st]

This poem reminds me of Camus' essay "The Minotaur" about the need for "deserts"

[tessler6868]

it's the poet's fault ;)

[n080di]

The other tiny quibble is the discrepancy between the text being read and the written words appearing in light.

[n080di]

You are probably right about the personal emphasis injecting meaning into the poem.

But while listening I did not quite understand those lines; I couldn't parse them quite right until I read them. Is this common?

I guess there is no satisfactory solution to this dilemma.

Thank you for your work; keep it up!

[Ahavati1]

Larkin didn't fear solitude like many others. Nor did he fear who he truly was. Milton once said that the most difficult journey a man would make was within himself. This journey can only be accomplished in quiet and solitude. But, one doesn't know themselves just in solitude, for the solitude of self is just a portion of self. One must experience a relationship of self with society in order to truly understand and desire (vs fear) the beauty of solitude. Larkin expressed that wonderfully here.