A well-known poem from Philip Larkin's The Whitsun Weddings (1964), "Talking in Bed" paints a pessimistic portrait of long-term love. Its speaker broods over the tense silences they and their romantic partner share while lying in bed together. The dreary view outside the couple's window seems to mirror their restless tension. The poem notes the irony that communication often becomes harder, not easier, as a relationship becomes more intimate.

• Read the full text of “Talking in Bed”

• “Talking in Bed” Summary

• “Talking in Bed” Themes

  • 

    Relationships and Communication

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-12
  • 

    Humanity, Nature, and Alienation

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-12

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Talking in Bed”

  • Lines 1-3

    Talking in bed ...
    ... people being honest.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 4-7

    Yet more and ...
    ... on the horizon.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 8-11

    None of this ...
    ... true and kind,

    

    

    

    

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  • Line 12

    Or not untrue and not unkind.

    

    

    

    

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• “Talking in Bed” Symbols

  • 

    Wind and Clouds

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-6: “Outside, the wind's incomplete unrest / Builds and disperses clouds about the sky,”
  • 

    Towns

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 7: “And dark towns heap up on the horizon.”

• “Talking in Bed” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Talking in bed”
    • Line 4: “more,” “more”
    • Line 11: “true and kind”
    • Line 12: “not untrue and not unkind”

  • Juxtaposition

    

    

    

    

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    Where juxtaposition appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-9

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-6: “unrest / Builds”
    • Lines 8-9: “why / At”
    • Lines 10-11: “find / Words”

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-4
    • Lines 8-12

• “Talking in Bed” 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.

  • Emblem
  • Incomplete unrest
  • Disperses
  • (Location in poem: Line 3: “An emblem of two people being honest.”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Talking in Bed”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Talking in Bed” Speaker

• “Talking in Bed” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Talking in Bed”

• More “Talking in Bed” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Poem Aloud — Listen to Philip Larkin read "Talking in Bed."

    • The Poet's Life and Work — A brief biography of Larkin at the Poetry Foundation.

    • Larkin on TV — The South Bank Show visits and interviews Larkin in 1981.

    • The Larkin Society — The website of the Philip Larkin Society, dedicated to the poet and his legacy.

    • More on "The Movement" — A retrospective on the postwar literary movement with which Larkin is associated.

  • 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

    • Poetry of Departures

    • The Trees

    • The Whitsun Weddings

    • This Be The Verse

    • Water

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