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Talking In Bed
Talking in Bed is set in the early 1960s; divorce was still largely viewed as
scandalous and it was considered disgraceful to give up on marriage
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The poem talks about a relationship that has broken down and is at the
stage where the time before falling asleep is filled with silence
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The bed is a typical emblem for a marriage; it is supposed to be a sacred
and safe place for spouses to come together as one
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‘Talking in bed ought to be the easiest,’ for a couple in a long committed
relationship, it is the conversations in bed that are often the most
meaningful and heartfelt which is what Larkin is identifying here
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The word "lying" has a twofold meaning in this poem; on one hand it means
that the couple is led down beside one another, and on the other hand, it
means that there is some untruthfulness between the couple that is
perhaps causing the silence
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The nature metaphor is used to describe the ups and downs of marriage
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The "outside"
mirrors the “unrest” between the couple inside; the pressure builds and
builds between them, and is never alleviated
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"Builds and disperses"
could be a metaphor for an argument; tension builds, and has to be either
released or repressed, leaving it unresolved or repressed would lead to a
situation like the one that the couple in the poem find themselves in
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Metaphorically speaking, if the sky was clear then the marriage
would be peaceful, but clouds insinuate that the marriage is riddled with
problems; these problems could potentially harm the marriage, so the
clouds obscure them
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Seeing the darkness could allude to
arguments or problems within the marriage as well as loneliness at the
feeling of oppression from the way they are described as a ‘heap
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’ This
also shows that the narrator does not know why their marriage has failed,
‘why at this unique distance from isolation’ where they are so close to each
other at yet they can feel the distance almost as if it were tangible
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Was their marriage based on a lie? This
poem offers no answers and this allows people to relate to this situation
better and draw their own conclusions
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This poem is Larkin’s a wake-up call for those who are falling
into silence, warning them before it is too late to make things better
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’ The use of enjambment in the sentence that follows is also
used for dramatic effect, following a short concise sentence with a much
longer one highlights further the importance of the initial sentence as well
as making more of a lasting impression with the final sentence of the poem
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’
As well as syntax, the rhyming scheme changes in the last stanza,
throughout the first three stanzas there is a rhyming pattern of ABA CAC
DCD however in the final stanza it becomes EEE which shows the
importance of these lines
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