Top 6 - Philip Larkin, selected by Colleen Hawkins

Choosing Philip Larkin’s six best poems represents a dream project for a naturally lazy person such as myself. His output was relatively small and all of his greatest poems are to be found in three slim volumes of poetry: The Less Deceived, The Whitsun Weddings and High Windows. The juvenilia and uncollected poems are fascinating for the aficionados, but need not detain the more casual reader seeking out his best work. Larkin was his own best critic and only the cream of his output ever made it into his collections.

Going

The most economical and effective expression of Larkin’s notoriously extreme timor mortis.

Church Going

If there’s one Larkin poem that I’m absolutely certain will stand the test of time, it’s Church Going.

An Arundel Tomb

A powerful and – to a limited extent – consoling poem. Just don’t fall into the trap of getting too carried away by its famous final line. Lots of others have.

The Old Fools

There’s no phony consolation on offer here and much of this poem’s greatness stems from the fact that it’s so unflinching.

Broadcast

Romantic and full of yearning, but thankfully never sloppy or sentimental. Nobody likes a poet who slobbers over his beloved!

MCMXIV

I somehow doubt pre-WWI England was ever quite the quaint, trusting little Eden that Larkin imagines it was, but – whether it’s founded on a sentimental myth or not – MCMXIV is still immensely poignant.