First published in The Less Deceived in 1955, "Church Going" remains one of Philip Larkin's best-known poems. Its speaker casually visits an empty church, a place he views with skeptical irreverence. Nevertheless, the speaker admits that he's drawn to churches and speculates about what will become of them once religion itself has completely died out. Though he sees no future for the beliefs that churches promote, the speaker suggests that people will always need some version of the atmosphere they provide: one of human togetherness and "serious" contemplation of life and death. The pun in the title hints at the poem's themes: the speaker believes that churches are going as in vanishing, but that some form of "churchgoing" will survive.

• Read the full text of “Church Going”

• “Church Going” Summary

• “Church Going” Themes

  • 

    The Role of Religion in Society

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-63
  • 

    The Desire for Human Connection

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 8-18
    • Lines 43-63

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Church Going”

  • Lines 1-2

    Once I am ...
    ... door thud shut.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 3-8

    Another church: matting, ...
    ... knows how long.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 8-12

    Hatless, I take ...
    ... know: I don't.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-16

    Mounting the lectern, ...
    ... echoes snigger briefly.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 16-18

    Back at the ...
    ... worth stopping for.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 19-23

    Yet stop I ...
    ... turn them into,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 23-27

    if we shall ...
    ... as unlucky places?

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 28-31

    Or, after dark, ...
    ... a dead one?

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 32-35

    Power of some ...
    ... disbelief has gone?

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 36-38

    Grass, weedy pavement, ...
    ... purpose more obscure.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 38-41

    I wonder who ...
    ... what rood-lofts were?

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 42-44

    Some ruin-bibber, randy ...
    ... organ-pipes and myrrh?

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 45-48

    Or will he ...
    ... Through suburb scrub

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 48-52

    because it held ...
    ... This special shell?

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 52-54

    For, though I've ...
    ... in silence here;

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 55-58

    A serious house ...
    ... can be obsolete,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 59-63

    Since someone will ...
    ... dead lie round.

    

    

    

    

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• “Church Going” Symbols

  • 

    The Speaker and the Church

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-18: “Once I am sure there's nothing going on / I step inside, letting the door thud shut. / Another church: matting, seats, and stone, / And little books; sprawlings of flowers, cut / For Sunday, brownish now; some brass and stuff / Up at the holy end; the small neat organ; / And a tense, musty, unignorable silence, / Brewed God knows how long. Hatless, I take off / My cycle-clips in awkward reverence, / Move forward, run my hand around the font. / From where I stand, the roof looks almost new— / Cleaned, or restored? Someone would know: I don't. / Mounting the lectern, I peruse a few / Hectoring large-scale verses, and pronounce / "Here endeth" much more loudly than I'd meant. / The echoes snigger briefly. Back at the door / I sign the book, donate an Irish sixpence, / Reflect the place was not worth stopping for.”
    • Lines 52-54: “For, though I've no idea / What this accoutred frowsty barn is worth, / It pleases me to stand in silence here;”
  • 

    Religious Artifacts

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-8: “Another church: matting, seats, and stone, / And little books; sprawlings of flowers, cut / For Sunday, brownish now; some brass and stuff / Up at the holy end; the small neat organ; / And a tense, musty, unignorable silence, / Brewed God knows how long.”
    • Lines 10-16: “Move forward, run my hand around the font. / From where I stand, the roof looks almost new— / Cleaned, or restored? Someone would know: I don't. / Mounting the lectern, I peruse a few / Hectoring large-scale verses, and pronounce / "Here endeth" much more loudly than I'd meant. / The echoes snigger briefly.”
    • Lines 22-25: “When churches fall completely out of use / What we shall turn them into, if we shall keep / A few cathedrals chronically on show, / Their parchment, plate, and pyx in locked cases,”
    • Lines 52-53: “For, though I've no idea / What this accoutred frowsty barn is worth,”

• “Church Going” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 7-8: “And a tense, musty, unignorable silence, / Brewed God knows how long.”
    • Line 16: “The echoes snigger briefly.”
    • Line 42: “Some ruin-bibber, randy for antique,”
    • Lines 43-44: “Or Christmas-addict, counting on a whiff / Of gown-and-bands and organ-pipes and myrrh?”
    • Lines 46-47: “knowing the ghostly silt / Dispersed”
    • Line 47: “this cross of ground”
    • Lines 48-52: “it held unspilt / So long and equably what since is found / Only in separation—marriage, and birth, / And death, and thoughts of these—for whom was built / This special shell?”
    • Line 53: “this accoutred frowsty barn”
    • Line 56: “In whose blent air all our compulsions meet,”
    • Line 57: “robed as destinies.”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-11: “letting the door thud shut. / Another church: matting, seats, and stone, / And little books; sprawlings of flowers, cut / For Sunday, brownish now; some brass and stuff / Up at the holy end; the small neat organ; / And a tense, musty, unignorable silence, / Brewed God knows how long. Hatless, I take off / My cycle-clips in awkward reverence, / Move forward, run my hand around the font. / From where I stand, the roof looks almost new—”
    • Lines 13-17: “Mounting the lectern, I peruse a few / Hectoring large-scale verses, and pronounce / "Here endeth" much more loudly than I'd meant. / The echoes snigger briefly. Back at the door / I sign the book, donate an Irish sixpence,”
    • Lines 23-26: “if we shall keep / A few cathedrals chronically on show, / Their parchment, plate, and pyx in locked cases, / And let the rest rent-free to rain and sheep.”
    • Lines 28-31: “Or, after dark, will dubious women come / To make their children touch a particular stone; / Pick simples for a cancer; or on some / Advised night see walking a dead one?”
    • Lines 36-37: “Grass, weedy pavement, brambles, buttress, sky, / A shape less recognizable each week,”
    • Lines 40-41: “one of the crew / That tap and jot and know what rood-lofts were?”
    • Lines 43-44: “a whiff / Of gown-and-bands and organ-pipes and myrrh?”
    • Line 52: “This special shell”
    • Line 53: “this accoutred frowsty barn”
    • Line 54: “It pleases me to stand in silence here;”
    • Line 55: “A serious house on serious earth it is,”
    • Line 63: “If only that so many dead lie round.”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 7: “silence”
    • Line 18: “worth”
    • Line 21: “Wondering,” “wondering”
    • Line 23: “shall,” “shall”
    • Line 27: “Shall”
    • Line 37: “A”
    • Line 38: “A”
    • Line 39: “the last,” “the,” “last”
    • Line 43: “Or”
    • Line 45: “Or”
    • Line 53: “worth”
    • Line 54: “silence”
    • Line 55: “serious,” “serious”
    • Line 60: “serious”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “seats,” “stone”
    • Line 4: “sprawlings”
    • Line 5: “Sunday,” “brownish,” “some,” “brass,” “stuff”
    • Line 15: “much more,” “meant”
    • Line 16: “briefly. Back”
    • Line 21: “Wondering what,” “wondering”
    • Line 22: “When”
    • Line 23: “What we,” “we,” “keep”
    • Line 24: “cathedrals chronically”
    • Line 25: “parchment, plate,,” “pyx,” “locked”
    • Line 26: “let,” “rest rent-free,” “rain,” “sheep”
    • Line 27: “Shall”
    • Line 28: “dark,” “dubious”
    • Line 30: “simples,” “some”
    • Line 32: “some sort”
    • Line 33: “riddles,” “random”
    • Line 36: “brambles, buttress”
    • Line 40: “what,” “was,” “one”
    • Line 42: “ruin-bibber, randy”
    • Line 43: “Christmas-addict, counting”
    • Line 48: “suburb scrub,” “unspilt”
    • Line 49: “So,” “since”
    • Line 50: “separation”
    • Line 54: “stand,” “silence”
    • Line 55: “serious,” “serious”
    • Line 57: “recognised,” “robed”
    • Line 59: “Since someone,” “surprising”
    • Line 60: “hunger,” “himself,” “serious”
    • Line 61: “gravitating,” “ground”
    • Line 62: “Which,” “he,” “heard”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “step,” “letting,” “thud shut”
    • Line 4: “cut”
    • Line 5: “Sunday”
    • Lines 5-6: “stuff / Up”
    • Line 7: “musty, unignorable”
    • Line 14: “pronounce”
    • Line 15: “loudly”
    • Line 23: “we,” “keep”
    • Line 24: “cathedrals,” “chronically on”
    • Line 25: “plate,” “cases”
    • Line 26: “let,” “rest rent-free,” “sheep”
    • Line 30: “Pick simples”
    • Line 31: “Advised night”
    • Line 38: “purpose,” “obscure”
    • Line 40: “what,” “was; one”
    • Line 42: “randy,” “antique”
    • Line 43: “Christmas-addict,” “whiff”
    • Line 45: “he be”
    • Line 46: “Bored, uninformed,” “knowing,” “ghostly”
    • Line 47: “yet tending”
    • Line 48: “suburb scrub”
    • Line 52: “special shell,” “though,” “no”
    • Line 54: “pleases me”
    • Line 58: “never”
    • Line 59: “forever”
    • Line 61: “with it,” “this”
    • Line 62: “Which,” “grow”
    • Line 63: “only,” “so”

  • Parallelism

    

    

    

    

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    Where parallelism appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “and stone, / And little books”
    • Lines 8-10: “I take off / My cycle-clips in awkward reverence, / Move forward, run my hand around the font.”
    • Lines 17-18: “I sign the book, donate an Irish sixpence, / Reflect the place was not worth stopping for.”
    • Lines 21-23: “Wondering what to look for; wondering, too, / When churches fall completely out of use / What we shall turn them into”
    • Line 33: “In games, in riddles”
    • Line 36: “Grass, weedy pavement, brambles, buttress, sky,”
    • Lines 37-38: “A shape less recognizable each week, / A purpose more obscure.”
    • Lines 42-44: “Some ruin-bibber, randy for antique, / Or Christmas-addict, counting on a whiff / Of gown-and-bands and organ-pipes and myrrh?”
    • Lines 46-47: “Bored, uninformed, knowing the ghostly silt / Dispersed, yet tending to this cross of ground”
    • Lines 50-51: “and birth, / And death, and thoughts of these”

  • Asyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Line 10: “Move forward, run my hand around the font.”
    • Lines 17-18: “donate an Irish sixpence, / Reflect the place was not worth stopping for.”
    • Lines 37-38: “A shape less recognizable each week, / A purpose more obscure.”

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “Once I am sure there's nothing going on / I step inside”
    • Lines 7-9: “And a tense, musty, unignorable silence, / Brewed God knows how long. Hatless, I take off / My cycle-clips in awkward reverence,”
    • Lines 13-16: “Mounting the lectern, I peruse a few / Hectoring large-scale verses, and pronounce / "Here endeth" much more loudly than I'd meant. / The echoes snigger briefly.”
    • Line 17: “donate an Irish sixpence,”
    • Lines 62-63: “Which, he once heard, was proper to grow wise in, / If only that so many dead lie round.”

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “And little books”
    • Lines 13-15: “I peruse a few / Hectoring large-scale verses, and pronounce / "Here endeth" much more loudly than I'd meant.”
    • Line 25: “Their parchment, plate, and pyx in locked cases,”
    • Lines 43-44: “Or Christmas-addict, counting on a whiff / Of gown-and-bands and organ-pipes and myrrh?”

  • Rhetorical Question

    

    

    

    

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    Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:

    • Line 12: “Cleaned, or restored?”
    • Lines 21-26: “Wondering what to look for; wondering, too, / When churches fall completely out of use / What we shall turn them into, if we shall keep / A few cathedrals chronically on show, / Their parchment, plate, and pyx in locked cases, / And let the rest rent-free to rain and sheep.”
    • Line 27: “Shall we avoid them as unlucky places?”
    • Lines 28-31: “Or, after dark, will dubious women come / To make their children touch a particular stone; / Pick simples for a cancer; or on some / Advised night see walking a dead one?”
    • Line 35: “And what remains when disbelief has gone?”
    • Lines 38-41: “I wonder who / Will be the last, the very last, to seek / This place for what it was; one of the crew / That tap and jot and know what rood-lofts were?”
    • Lines 42-44: “Some ruin-bibber, randy for antique, / Or Christmas-addict, counting on a whiff / Of gown-and-bands and organ-pipes and myrrh?”
    • Lines 45-52: “Or will he be my representative, / Bored, uninformed, knowing the ghostly silt / Dispersed, yet tending to this cross of ground / Through suburb scrub because it held unspilt / So long and equably what since is found / Only in separation—marriage, and birth, / And death, and thoughts of these—for whom was built / This special shell?”

• “Church Going” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Matting
  • Sprawlings
  • Cycle-clips
  • Font
  • Mounting
  • Lectern
  • Peruse
  • Hectoring
  • Snigger
  • Irish sixpence
  • Pyx
  • Plate
  • Parchment
  • Let
  • Dubious
  • Simples
  • Advised
  • Brambles
  • Buttress
  • Tap
  • Rood-lofts
  • Jot
  • Ruin-bibber
  • Randy
  • Antique
  • Myrrh
  • Gown-and-bands
  • Silt
  • Tending
  • Scrub
  • Equably
  • Unspilt
  • Accoutred
  • Frowsty
  • Blent
  • Compulsions
  • Robed
  • Surprising
  • (Location in poem: Line 3: “Another church: matting, seats, and stone,”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Church Going”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Church Going” Speaker

• “Church Going” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Church Going”

• More “Church Going” Resources

  • External Resources

    • A Biography of the Poet — Learn more about Larkin's life and work via the Poetry Foundation.

    • The Poem Aloud — Listen to a recording of Philip Larkin reading "Church Going."

    • The Poet's "Agnostic Legacy" — More on Larkin's beliefs (or non-beliefs) via The Guardian.

    • A Documentary of the Poet — A 2003 Larkin documentary that begins with footage of the poet cycling up to a church.

    • Interview with the Poet — Watch poet John Betjeman interview Philip Larkin in 1964.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Philip Larkin

    • Afternoons

    • An Arundel Tomb

    • A Study of Reading Habits

    • Coming

    • Home Is So Sad

    • MCMXIV

    • Money

    • Mr Bleaney

    • Next, Please

    • Poetry of Departures

    • Talking in Bed

    • The Trees

    • The Whitsun Weddings

    • This Be The Verse

    • Water

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