Last Visit to 198 Cathedral Road - Dannie Abse

From this poem we are able to see that Abse is talking about a room within his parents house which appears to be dark and gloomy towards the audience. We get the sense that the theme of neglection is shown within the first and second stanza and links into the poem Home is so Sadas it describes the room that appears lonely and unwanted. Larkin and Abse both perform a view on lonliness occuring within their poems and with the use of metaphors and personification, we see just that.
Throughout this poem created by Abse we also see that he is too talking about the contrast between life and death. Throughout this poem he uses various words which portray this meaning and also comes across to the reader that the persona has a harsh and cruel voice when the poem is spoken due to these words. Examples of these words would be the contrast between the phrase, "Living room, did I say? Dying room, rather". From this contrast we see that even in places that imply a sense of warmth and happiness with having people you love within this room, there is always a notion that you can still be alone and silent. This room implies to us also the belief that no matter what we do or place within a room we will always die. This links into the notion that Larkin presents within his poems about how we live and do not realise that time is a key essence throughout our lives and we are not aware of this until we come close to death. Larkin and Abse both portray the sense of lonliness, death and isolation well within this poem by Abse, as well as Home Is So Sad by Larkin. Another poem that would link to this thought would be Mr Bleaney with how he portrays the sense of lonliness now that Mr Bleaney has moved out. Both rooms appear to be unwanted and unloved and have lost their magic with how dark and sinister they appear to the audience through the use of similies. A good one that Abse uses within his poem is the first line, "When, like a burglar".

Abse uses a great deal of personification to inform us what is in the room and how this room feels now that no one enters it. As he sits within his father chair we see that "the vase that yawned hideously the pattern that ran up the curtain... in the room that was out of breath" and we are informed in how much has been affected due to being alone. Abse states within these phrases that this room is also old like his father that sat in that chair. We also see this due to the great deal of dust that has been collected in the room over time and this poem is a great deal like Home Is So Sad by Larkin.
We also see that this poem is about saying good bye with the name of the poem having "Last Visit". This suggest to us further that he is unable to return and makes the poem appear far more mourning due to this thought.
Altogether this poem is a good example of how similar Abse and Larkin are at writing about lonliness and death.