Philip Larkin의 시에 나타난 죽음의 주제 연구

Abstract

A Study of the Theme of Death in Philip Larkin's Poetry

Jun Pyo Kim

Department of English Language, The Graduate School, Pukyong National University

Abstract

This thesis aims to study the subject of death of Philip Larkin's poetry. As one of the representative poets in the 1950s, Larkin deals with the theme of death primarily in his poetry. Therefore, this study will analyze his poems related to Larkin's life and his fundamental attitude toward death. Principally, the subject of death in his poetry is based on his real experiences. It is almost impossible to find any systematic thought and religious will through his work. At times, his radical demeanor and poetic expressiveness have been largely evaluated by the reader and critics negatively. However this thesis focuses on Larkin's unique way of interacting with readers by revealing even his weaknesses. Accordingly, it is a definitive object in this study to confirm that he was a contemplative poet who did not evade the issue of death. In order to study Larkin's theme of death, the body of this thesis is divided into two parts. Part Ⅱ examines the poet's basic stance facing death by analyzing relevant poems. This section conducts a detailed study on why he observes the world keenly with gray color and says in such a gloomy tone, through examining anti-Christian attitude reflected in his work. Part Ⅲ focuses on Larkin's meditative manner that eventually accepts death in contemplation by analyzing "At Grass" and "Aubade" in detail. Philip Larkin has observed that people can never be happy as long as death exists. Most of his poems have proved the observation, but he also leaves with us the final conclusion about life and death because it will be made on our own.