Philip Larkin was a renowned poet of the decades following the Second World War. He was a significant member of the group of writers, primarily poets, known as ‘The Movement’. He does not sentimentalise human experience; he sees the sham and the lack of true joy in the contemporary society. A typical Larkin poem is a blend of the simple and the difficult. The clarity of some lines is often followed by passages that are teasingly difficult. Hence, a judicious elucidation of his poems becomes necessary.

This book offers a critical evaluation of a selection of Philip Larkin’s poems, which are mostly prescribed for study at universities. The introduction presents a brief sketch of Philip Larkin’s life and times. Dr B.G. Tandon reviews his poetry from the perspectives of its content and style in the first section. Then, he discusses each of the selected poems in the second section; whereas in the last section, he provides the annotations for each of these poems. The annotation is done in three steps—paraphrase, explication of the expressions that an average student finds difficult, and critical evaluation. Major critical perspectives on the poet and his works are incorporated in the general introduction.