Philip Larkin published "Poetry of Departures" in his 1955 collection The Less Deceived. With characteristic humor and cynicism, the poem dismisses the fantasy of chucking it all and starting a new life somewhere else. The speaker finds this idea inauthentic and pretentious, preferring to live the mundane, steady life they already know, even with its "reprehensibly perfect" normality. This poem, like so many of Larkin's, embraces everyday life for better and for worse.

• Read the full text of “Poetry of Departures”

• “Poetry of Departures” Summary

• “Poetry of Departures” Themes

  • 

    Everyday Life and the Fantasy of Escape

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-32

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Poetry of Departures”

  • Lines 1-4

    Sometimes you hear, ...
    ... just cleared off,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-8

    And always the ...
    ... Elemental move.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-11

    And they are ...
    ... to be there:

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 12-15

    I detest my ...
    ... in perfect order:

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 16-20

    So to hear ...
    ... that you bastard;

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 21-24

    Surely I can, ...
    ... I'd go today,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 25-28

    Yes, swagger the ...
    ... weren't so artificial,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 29-32

    Such a deliberate ...
    ... Reprehensibly perfect.

    

    

    

    

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• “Poetry of Departures” Symbols

  • 

    Specially-chosen junk

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 12-14: “I detest my room, / Its specially-chosen junk, / The good books, the good bed,”
    • Line 31: “Books; china;”

• “Poetry of Departures” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Asyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Lines 7-8: “This audacious, purifying, / Elemental move.”
    • Lines 12-13: “I detest my room, / Its specially-chosen junk,”
    • Line 14: “The good books, the good bed,”
    • Lines 25-27: “swagger the nut-strewn roads, / Crouch in the fo'c'sle / Stubbly with goodness,”
    • Lines 31-32: “Books; china; a life / Reprehensibly perfect.”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-6: “sound / Certain”
    • Lines 6-7: “approve / This”
    • Lines 7-8: “purifying, / Elemental”
    • Lines 16-17: “said / He”
    • Lines 17-18: “crowd / Leaves”
    • Lines 22-23: “stay / Sober”
    • Lines 24-25: “today, / Yes”
    • Lines 26-27: “fo'c'sle / Stubbly”
    • Lines 27-28: “if / It”
    • Lines 31-32: “life / Reprehensibly”

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-8: “Sometimes you hear, fifth-hand, / As epitaph: / He chucked up everything / And just cleared off, / And always the voice will sound / Certain you approve / This audacious, purifying, / Elemental move.”
    • Lines 24-32: “But I'd go today, / Yes, swagger the nut-strewn roads, / Crouch in the fo'c'sle / Stubbly with goodness, if / It weren't so artificial, / Such a deliberate step backwards / To create an object: / Books; china; a life / Reprehensibly perfect.”

  • Rhetorical Question

    

    

    

    

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    Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:

    • Line 21: “Surely I can, if he did?”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 16-20: “So to hear it said / He walked out on the whole crowd / Leaves me flushed and stirred, / Like / Then she undid her dress / Or / Take that you bastard;”

• “Poetry of Departures” 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.

  • Fifth-hand
  • Epitaph
  • Chucked Up
  • Cleared Off
  • Audacious
  • Elemental
  • Flushed and stirred
  • Sober and industrious
  • Swagger
  • Nut-strewn
  • Fo'c'sle
  • Stubbly
  • Reprehensibly
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “Sometimes you hear, fifth-hand,”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Poetry of Departures”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Poetry of Departures” Speaker

• “Poetry of Departures” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Poetry of Departures”

• More “Poetry of Departures” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Poem Out Loud — Listen to a reading of the poem by Larkin himself.

    • Larkin at the British Library — Browse the resources of the Philip Larkin Collection at the British Library. 

    • A Larkin Documentary — Watch the 2003 documentary "Philip Larkin: Love and Death in Hull."

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

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

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Philip Larkin

    • Afternoons

    • An Arundel Tomb

    • A Study of Reading Habits

    • Church Going

    • Coming

    • Home Is So Sad

    • MCMXIV

    • Money

    • Mr Bleaney

    • Next, Please

    • Talking in Bed

    • The Trees

    • The Whitsun Weddings

    • This Be The Verse

    • Water

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