The Full Text of “Coming”
The Full Text of “Coming”
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“Coming” Introduction
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The British poet Philip Larkin published "Coming" in his 1955 book The Less Deceived. The poem's speaker describes what it's like to watch spring slowly reawaken the surrounding world, as a small songbird stirs in an empty garden and sunlight washes over houses. The poem maintains a melancholy tone throughout, however, especially as the speaker compares the happiness of the coming spring to the superficial joy a child might feel after misinterpreting the forced laughter of two adults who have just finished arguing. This comparison implies that the joys of spring—with all its symbolic connotations of renewal and rebirth—are shallower and less meaningful than people may want to believe.
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“Coming” Summary
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On nights when the sun begins to set later and later, cold, yellow light washes over the tops of calm, peaceful houses. A songbird sings from its perch in the shrubs of an otherwise empty garden, its youthful voice startling the brickwork of the nearby houses.
Spring is coming, spring is coming—and even though my childhood was forgettable and boring, I feel like a child who has walked in on two adults making up after a disagreement, and, unable to understand what's going on apart from the adults' strange laughter, begins to feel better.
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“Coming” Themes
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Spring, Rebirth, and False Hope
“Coming” connects the arrival of spring with feelings of hope and happiness, while also suggesting that these feelings are shallower and more tenuous than they appear. Spring in the poem marks a time of renewed warmth and growth; the seasons are often linked to human life cycles in literature, and that’s certainly the case here. On one level, then, the poem explores the sense of optimism that spring may bring after a long, cold winter—symbolically suggesting the cyclical nature of human life and its potential for renewed hope even after long periods of darkness.
At the same time, however, the speaker questions the depth and truthfulness of this joy. The speaker, at the start of spring, feels like a child who’s walked in on two adults making up after a fight and, failing to recognize the awkwardness in the room, is too readily made happy by the adults’ supposed “reconciling.” This, in turn, implies that the joy of spring is superficial and insecure. Perhaps this is because the coming of spring doesn't simply signal rebirth, but also the inevitable forward march of time. What's clear is that the things people count on to make them happy, the poem rather cynically suggests, are often less meaningful than they seem.
The poem begins by playing on the fact that people imbue the coming spring with a sense of joyous rebirth. For example, the speaker says that the sound of a small songbird “astonish[es]” houses that have been sitting “serene[ly]” all winter, and also describes the lengthening days with their “yellow” light. This leads to a feeling of reawakening that seems hopeful, as if spring will rouse and uplift the speaker’s otherwise dreary surroundings.
Yet despite this apparent optimism, the speaker’s tone remains unenthusiastic. When the speaker says, “It will be spring soon, / It will be spring soon,” the repetition of this phrase makes it sound as if the speaker is actually dreading spring. Or, perhaps, the speaker is trying (and seemingly failing) to stay positive—to adopt the kind of happiness and hope that spring supposedly embodies.
Except, the next stanza suggests that such hope is false. The speaker goes on to compare spring’s promise of joy to a child’s experience of walking in on the end of an adult argument, only to hear the grownups laughing in a fake way to cover up their dispute. Although this laughter isn’t genuine, it still makes the child feel happy, since the child focuses only on the way things seem, not on how they actually are.
In the same way, the poem suggests, it’s possible to get swept up in the delights of spring without understanding what it really means. Spring’s promise of growth and renewal isn't as emotionally transformative as people want it to be, the poem suggests, because it hints at an underlying truth that people—like the child stumbling on "adult reconciling"—fail to understand.
While the poem never states what it actually is that people don't grasp about spring, it could be the fact that the changing of the seasons also signals the passage time and, as such, movement closer to death; or simply that its promise of growth and beauty doesn't suddenly erase people's problems. Spring may be a kind of "reconciling" after the cold and darkness of winter, but its chilly light is like that "unusual laughter" of the adults after an argument—something that lacks true warmth and comfort.
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-19
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Coming”
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Lines 1-4
On longer evenings, ...
... Foreheads of houses.The opening phrase, "On longer evenings," establishes that the poem is set during the onset of spring, a time of year when the days start to grow longer as the sun sets later and later. This setting reflects poem's title, "Coming," which subtly hints at a sense of newness and change, as spring is "coming" to replace winter.
The speaker goes on to describe the quality of sunlight on these early spring evenings, calling it "chill and yellow." The fact that the sunlight is still "chill" suggests that winter has not yet fully passed, since the light remains cold even though it's around for more hours in the day. The days may be longer, then, but they are not yet warm; there's the appearance of spring without the genuine feel of it—a setting that, in turn, foreshadows the speaker's ideas about the shallow nature of springtime hope.
All the same, the light still "bathes" the houses, which themselves are "serene." The speaker uses personification in this moment, referencing the "foreheads" of the houses and depicting them as people who are calm and subdued. The imagery of sunlight washing over "serene" houses suggests that the light will perhaps reawaken the houses, which have been sitting somberly throughout the winter. Here, at least, spring is portrayed as a source of renewal and rebirth.
Despite the seemingly uplifting subject, the speaker's overall tone is unenthusiastic. Not only are the speaker's descriptions tempered by the mention of coldness and a certain feeling of somberness, but the actual rhythm of the words has a somewhat defeated sound. This is because three of the first four lines all end on unstressed syllables. "Coming" is not written in meter, but there's no question that the last words of the first, second, and fourth lines have a stressed-unstressed pattern:
- "evenings"
- "yellow
- "houses"
This pattern creates a falling sound that hints at a sensation of melancholy—one that doesn't align with the otherwise joyous feelings that people associate with spring. As a result, readers will perhaps pick up on a subtle kind of cynicism that will run throughout the poem, starkly contrasting the supposedly happy tidings of springtime.
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Lines 5-7
A thrush sings, ...
... deep bare garden, -
Lines 8-9
Its fresh-peeled voice ...
... Astonishing the brickwork. -
Lines 10-13
It will be ...
... a forgotten boredom, -
Lines 14-19
Feel like a ...
... to be happy.
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“Coming” Symbols
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The Thrush and the Garden
The thrush (a type of songbird) in the garden represents the happiness and merriment associated with spring. The idea of a bird singing its little heart out in a garden is undeniably joyful. Such a scene even feels celebratory, as if nature is triumphantly marking the arrival of beautiful weather.
However, the thrush is singing from a shrubby area of an otherwise empty garden, suggesting that the garden itself is dead. This could be a sign that the bird's chirping is simply the first indication of spring's arrival, but the sense of barren emptiness that surrounds the bird ultimately overshadows the joyfulness of the bird's song.
The bird thus comes to symbolize the fact that it's possible to seem happy and enthusiastic even when everything is, in reality, pretty grim—a dynamic the speaker is all too familiar with, since it later becomes clear that the speaker doubts spring can lead to genuine happiness.
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 5-9: “A thrush sings, / Laurel-surrounded / In the deep bare garden, / Its fresh-peeled voice / Astonishing the brickwork.”
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“Coming” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Consonance
The speaker packs each line of the poem with consonance. The /l/ sound, for instance, rings out clearly in the poem's first two lines:
On longer evenings,
Light, chill and yellowThis repetition of the gentle, liquid /l/ sound makes these lines sound beautiful and smooth but also subdued, setting the pensive tone for the rest of the poem.
Later, the /r/ sound repeats many times in lines 6 and 7:
Laurel-surrounded
In the deep bare gardenThe multiple /r/ sounds give this section a subtle growl that makes the language feel textured. Coupled with the many instances of sibilance ("serene," "houses," "sings," etc.), this creates a meditative, soothing effect that reflects the calm and peaceful nature of the speaker's immediate surroundings.
Another notable use of consonance comes in lines 16 and 17, when the speaker features the /d/ and /n/ sounds:
Of adult reconciling,
And can understand nothingThe /d/ sound in particular is quite commanding and blunt, an effect that imbues this moment with a certain feeling of impenetrability. In turn, the speaker's language reflects the child's inability to break through the adults' "unusual laughter" and grasp what is actually going on between them.
Where consonance appears in the poem:- Line 1: “longer”
- Line 2: “Light, chill,” “yellow”
- Line 4: “Foreheads,” “houses”
- Line 5: “thrush sings”
- Line 6: “Laurel-surrounded”
- Line 7: “deep bare garden”
- Line 8: “fresh-peeled voice”
- Line 9: “Astonishing”
- Line 10: “spring soon”
- Line 11: “spring soon”
- Line 12: “childhood”
- Line 13: “forgotten boredom”
- Line 14: “Feel like,” “child”
- Line 15: “on,” “scene”
- Line 16: “adult reconciling”
- Line 17: “And can understand nothing”
- Line 18: “unusual”
- Line 19: “starts to”
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Imagery
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Sibilance
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Personification
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Repetition
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Assonance
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Simile
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"Coming" 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.
- Bathes
- Thrush
- Laurel
- Astonishing
- Brickwork
- Reconciling
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(Location in poem: Lines 3-4: “Bathes the serene / Foreheads of houses.”)
In this context, the word "bathe" describes the way the sun washes over the surrounding houses.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Coming”
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Form
"Coming" is a 19-line poem that doesn't adhere to any conventional poetic structure. It is made up of two uneven stanzas, the first containing 9 lines and the second containing 10. The first stanza outlines the approach of spring, setting the scene by describing the way a suburban environment seems to change with the first stirrings of warmer weather. The second stanza, on the other hand, is centered around the speaker's thoughts and feelings, making it clear that this seemingly welcome change in the weather isn't as joyous as one might expect. In this regard, the second stanza encourages readers to adopt a rather cynical attitude regarding the descriptions of spring that appear in the first stanza.
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Meter
"Coming" is a free verse poem and thus not written in a specific meter, though most of its lines are similar in that they're short and clipped. In particular, the speaker often achieves a somber tone by ending a line with an unstressed syllable that sounds unresolved. Consider, for instance, the first two lines:
On longer evenings,
Light, chill and yellowOf course, the poem doesn't adhere to any actual meter, so trying to divide the lines into metrical feet doesn't make much sense. In these lines, though, it's quite clear that the final unstressed syllables come after stressed syllables, giving them a falling, deflated sound. This, in turn, leads to a solemn and defeated tone throughout.
The speaker also sometimes delivers especially short lines that sound terse and matter-of-fact. For instance, line 5 is made up of three monosyllabic words: "A thrush sings." Many of the poem's lines are only five syllables, including brief phrases like "It will be spring soon" in lines 10 and 11 or "Feel like a child" in line 14. These short lines create a slightly monotonous rhythm that sounds unenthusiastic, and this sheds light on the speaker's lack of excitement regarding the approach of spring. In this way, then, the unmetered rhythm of "Coming" helps convey the speaker's joyless outlook on life.
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Rhyme Scheme
The poem is written in free verse and does not follow a rhyme scheme. Readers might expect a poem about the arrival of spring—usually a happy time—to rhyme in a way that sounds musical and pleasing, but the speaker's meditations aren't actually all that joyous or celebratory. Instead, the speaker's tone is melancholic and even somewhat defeated. The lack of a rhyme scheme makes sense, since noticeable rhymes would detract from the poem's somber sound.
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“Coming” Speaker
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The poem does not reveal any identifying characteristics about the speaker, so it's hard to say who, exactly, is delivering these words. All the same, readers can reasonably conclude that the speaker is in a suburban environment that is gradually beginning to show the first signs of spring. At first, this seems like something that would make the speaker happy, but the speaker later implies that any joy felt from the arrival of spring is fleeting and superficial. Accordingly, the speaker comes to seem like a rather cynical, pessimistic person. And because this cynicism is so characteristic of Philip Larkin's poetry, some readers will perhaps view the speaker as Larkin himself.
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“Coming” Setting
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There are two settings in the poem. The first stanza takes place in a neighborhood in the final days of winter or the early days of spring. The days are starting to get longer, but there is still a chill in the air (the light is "cold"). The speaker also mentions a "bare" garden, suggesting that it's still not quite warm and sunny enough for flowers and plants to grow back. The location is probably a suburb of some sort, given that the speaker watches the spring sunlight wash over different houses.
The second half of the poem switches settings, moving to "a scene / Of adult reconciling." The speaker imagines a child stumbling upon this scene, which conjures an image of two adults—maybe the child's parents—making up after a fight or argument. There is still tension and awkwardness in the air that the adults cover up with "unusual laughter," but the child doesn't fully understand what is happening and feels happy.
The poem equates this second setting to the early spring setting described in the first stanza. The "chill and yellow" light of the new season is like that "unusual laughter," the poem implies—a tenuous and perhaps false joy after a season of darkness.
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Literary and Historical Context of “Coming”
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Literary Context
One of the most famous British poets of the 21st century, Philip Larkin has a reputation as a fairly cynical and bleak writer who often challenged cliché ideas about love, happiness, and life in general. This is evident in "Coming," a poem in which Larkin dismantles the idea of spring as a time of joyous rebirth and renewal. A similar kind of cynicism resurfaces in his poem "This Be The Verse," in which the speaker argues that all parents inevitably do emotional damage to their children and that, because of this, the only way for people to break out of this cycle is by dying without having children of their own. Another notably bleak sentiment arises in Larkin's poem "An Arundel Tomb," which questions whether love is actually an enduring force.
Larkin himself is considered a quintessentially British poet, which is why he's often associated with the Movement—a group of English writers in the 1950s that included people like Donald Davie, Thom Gunn, Kingsley Amis, and Ted Hughes. The characteristics that bound these writers together are admittedly difficult to articulate, since most people believe that a general British sensibility—a certain Englishness—is what united them. Still, poems like "Coming" that feature a vague sense of dissatisfaction align with the Movement's somewhat austere and contemplative attitude.
Having said that, the poem also draws influence from the Victorian Realist Thomas Hardy, whose work Larkin greatly admired. In particular, Larkin connected with Hardy's poetry and its tendency to present things in a simple way while still managing to render great feeling. In keeping with this, "Coming" is constructed in a straightforward, uncomplicated way even if it also hints at deeper emotions that are much more complex than the scene at hand.
Historical Context
"Coming" was published in 1955, meaning that it emerged ten years after the end of World War II and roughly five years before the counterculture movement of the 1960s. For the most part, the 1950s were relatively calm in England, as the country began to recover economically from World War II. In particular, the middle class began to see prosperity and security, as unemployment rates dropped significantly.
Given that "Coming" seems to take place in a suburban setting, this sense of stability is relevant to the poem. "Coming" is set in a seemingly pleasant environment; nothing especially troubling takes place in the poem, and the speaker's description of spring sunshine bathing "serene" houses enhances this sense of suburban contentment. However, the poem is actually at odds with this, since it becomes evident that the speaker doesn't derive true happiness from these surroundings.
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More “Coming” Resources
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External Resources
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Larkin's Life — Learn more about Philip Larkin through this overview of his life and work.
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The Philip Larkin Society — Check out all things Larkin on the Philip Larkin Society's website.
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The Paris Review Interview — Read Larkin's 1982 interview as part of the magazine's "The Art of Poetry" series.
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The Cynical Poet — If you can't get enough of Larkin's specific brand of sadness and cynicism, check out the poem "Home is so Sad," which, like "Coming," takes something seemingly happy and turns it into something sad.
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Larkin's Portrait — Take a look at Larkin's likeness, rendered in both paintings and photograph, in the National Portrait Gallery's six portraits of the poet himself.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Philip Larkin
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