Broadcast

The poem is essentially a love poem, written for Maeve Brennan, based upon a true event at which Maeve went to a concert and Larkin listened to it over broadcast. Broadcast could refer to the radio broadcast he was listening to, or the thoughts of Maeve 'broadcast' in his mind.

Stanza One
> Auditory imagery is used, the 'giant whispering' is an oxymoron, whispering is seen to be small, but the combination of all the whispers creates a giant noise in the concert hall.
> 'Precede a sudden scuttle' preceeding and scuttling of the drums is as if they are moving to approach and play for 'the Queen' aka. the national anthem.
> 'I think of your face among all those faces' - all he can think about is Maeve, he picks her out with his own imagination, her face has had a lasting impact in his mind.

Stanza Two
> 'Beautiful and devout' - refers to her catholicism
> 'One of your gloves, unnoticed on the floor' - he notices even the small details if it involves her, suggesting his affection for her
> 'New, slighty-outmoded shoes' - Maeve has bought last season shoes, even though he notices he does not mind. He seems to loose his snobbish nature when it comes to Maeve.
> 'Here it goes quickly dark. I lose//' the linebreak after I lose leaves the reader wondering what he has lost, most probably Maeve. The quick darkness could be loss of connection from the radio signal

Stanza Three
> 'leaves on half-emptied trees' - shows Larkin's pessimistic attitude, even when he talks about love his pessimistic attitude prevails
> 'by being distant overpower my mind' - his distance from Maeve is taking over, it overpowers him and distracts him from the music.
> 'Leaving me desperate to pick out' - he searches for her like he needs her, desperation takes over.
> 'Your hands, tiny' - the fact he searches for such a tiny part of her suggests he knows her so well, if he can pick her out from her hands he must truly love her OR is he searching for something he will never find? Is his search helpless