The Whitsun Weddings

The poem describes a train journey, Larkin talks about young couples boarding trains at different station on the way to their Whitsun Wedding.

DEFINITION - Whitsun - Placed in the half term before summer, Whitsun is a bank holiday.

Stanza One
Larkin seem's to make more of a personal connection to the train, rather than the people he is describes. He uses 'we ran' to talk about the movement on the train, but describes no interactions between him and the couples. This suggests he is disconnected from those around him, possibly a loner. He also seems relaxed when he is on the train, which is said to be 'three quarters empty', suggesting his preference to be alone. Once again Larkin shows his preference to the natural world over the urban world. He talks about the smell of the fish-dock and blinding windscreens (negative imagery) in comparison to the meeting of the sky and water and the drifting breadth of the river (positive imagery).

Stanza Two 
Once again, he highlights the unpleasantness of urban areas, describing the 'canals with floatings of industrial froth', the modernization is tainting the country. He also notices the 'displacement' of industrial smells by the smell of the grass, the industrial smells do not appeal to him suggesting he is more at one with nature. 'New and nondescript' is symbolic of his feelings towards modernization, all that's new has no character. This stanza two symbolizes how he see's the world, all that is new is bad and characterless, things should be kept as natural as possible in order to be successful.

Stanza Three
The first wedding is introduced in this stanza. He comments on the noise the guest's make, he does not seem to understand the excitement that would comes with a wedding, seemingly not understanding the fuss. He describes girls in 'parodies of fashion', their knock off clothing makes them seem cheap and less classy, indicating his views on the wedding. Their 'irresolute' posing implies discomfort, maybe not from them but from Larkin himself, he feels uncomfortable watching the brides pose.

Stanza Four 
In this stanza, Larkin's openly expresses his opinion on those, suggesting he is quite self-assured. He describes the mothers as 'loud and fat', as well as pointing out the uncles dirty jokes and the 'jewellery-substitutes' and 'nylon gloves', nylon being one of the cheapest fabrics. He wants to highlight their lack of class, quite simply he is a snob. He highlights the ugliest colours worn, avoiding the pureness of white likely worn by the bride. He even seems to suggest the ugly colours represent their ugly characteristics, (continued into stanza 5).
Stanza Five
He indicates the location of the weddings, most vividly describing the 'bunting-dresses coach-party annexes', the cheapest location, as if to highlight he is better than them (a snob). The idea of advice being 'thrown' indicates that its quite thoughtless, the wedding guests are there for the show, not because they care about the bride and groom. 'Children frowned' indicates boredom, and Larkin refers to the wedding as 'dull'.
Stanza Six
'Wholly farcical' - completely ridiculous, the father notices the ridiculousness of the situation, this could hint at sexism, Larkin suggesting the man is wiser. The idea of 'a happy funeral' has implications that marriage is the end of your like, an extremely inappropriate thing to say on a wedding day, suggesting Larkin's nature.