Ambulances - Larkin

From Larkin's poem known as "Ambulances" the audience is able to see the rhyme being presented as being unsatisfying with the half rhymes provided in the poem. These half rhymes that Larkin places into the poem are only positioned on the first and last stanza and instantly implies to the readers that we might not be satisfyied with the unknown ending that is to come. This then brings us onto the thoughts of words such as, "confessionals" and "thread" that he also uses within the first stanza. From this we get the impression of things being private and enclosed from view and are also piecing together or fixing the damage. This brings into the context of the though, "hanging by a thread" which implies to us that after this event you can go either way, good or bad, and are balanced until this occurs. From the first stanza having these half rhymes we see the pattern of A, B, C, B, C, A on each line with having C as the half rhyme. This is repeated through the last stanza also to portray life is one routine after the other and after all these routines are over we will die. This sequence is different however in the middle stanzas with having no half rhymes but instead have various words to give us a more indepth opinion on what the persona is trying to say. The words "strewn" and "stowed" are key words that are used within the second stanza and give us the impression that it is dismantled and scattered and also hidden from everyone else. This then leads us onto the thought of how casual everyone is within their lives and shows us just how vulnerable everyone really is when something drastic happens. Throughout this poem we see that Larkin has used demotic language to show us just a description of the everyday lifestyles of all the people. Within this poem, there is no sneariness presented throughout. Within the third stanza we get the phrase, "solving emptiness that lies just under all we do" which shows the readers the shock that everyone feels after an accident has happened. From this we see that every problem everyone wants to fix and has to find a solution but the only worry after an accident is the solution to death. Reality then begins to hit the readers. This is also seen with the repitition of the word "and" throughout that stanza to show just how much this poem is similar to the reality of death and life. From stanza four we see the word "blend" which implies to the readers of the thought of sewing. With this you see that the more thread placed together makes it stronger and is created into the fabric of life. This also suggests that once damaged the fabric begins to unravell and finally that there will be death at the end and then nothing. Within the last stanza we are then shown the half rhyme once more and also the positive and negative side of the phrase, "exchange of love". For the positive side we see a more romantic and mutual idea whilst the negative side suggests a transaction and appears cold hearted towards the readers. Altogether we see that when accidents happen everyone begins to realise what is really important and as we grow older we see that these things importance to us begins to fade. It then comes to the conclusion that the desire to not die keeps everyone going.

So far from reading a few of Larkins poems I have been able to notice a few links to connect the poems together. Already the audience can see this poem and The Whitsun Weddings have the contrast of the start of something, whilst the other poem to be the end of something. We then see the poem Here to have the link of a journey and also the description of where people live. Then finally the link of Ambulances to Dockery and Son with the description of how life changes so drastically and ends with the result of death no matter what people do.