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Handout: Philip Larkin, "Church Going"

Author Background

Philip Larkin (1922-1985) was educated at Oxford and worked as a librarian at Hull University. He became the leading figure in "the Movement," a group of 1950s British poets who rejected modernist complexity in favor of clear, everyday language and rational observation. Initially influenced by W.B. Yeats, Larkin later turned to Thomas Hardy's more direct style and ironic tone. He famously rejected the international modernism of Eliot and Pound, preferring what he saw as a native English tradition of accessible poetry. Larkin wrote about postwar Britain with what he called "an affair of sanity, of seeing things as they are." His poetry focuses on ordinary life—love's failures, religious decline, aging, and death—with a characteristic blend of skepticism and tenderness. As he put it: "I don't want to transcend the commonplace, I love the commonplace life." His major collections include The Less Deceived (1955) and The Whitsun Weddings (1964). Despite limited output, Larkin created some of the most emotionally complex and formally accomplished poems of the late twentieth century.

Quick Reference

Form: Lyric

Summary: A casual visit to a church results in a reflection on the decline of spiritual faith and the tendency to search for meaning in the remnants of religious authority.

Themes: - The meaninglessness of religion in postwar Britain - The desire to invest churches with meaning despite a decline in spiritual belief - The search for spiritual purpose in a faithless world persists

Key Passages: - "I . . . / Reflect the place was not worth stopping for. / Yet stop I did," lines 17–19 - "Wondering . . . / When churches turn completely out of use / What we shall turn them into," lines 21–23 - "And what remains when disbelief has gone?" line 35 - "someone will forever be surprising / A hunger in himself to be more serious," lines 59–60

Analysis

Opening Stanzas: Establishing Tone and Character

The poem begins with conversational language that establishes a casual, almost irreverent attitude toward the sacred space. Notice how the speaker's tone evolves:

Casual: "Once I am sure there's nothing going on / I step inside, letting the door thud shut" (lines 1–2)

Irreverent: The speaker refers to "some brass and stuff / up at the holy end" (lines 5–6)

Mocking: He ascends the pulpit and, parodying a sermon, declares "Here endeth" (line 15), then adds insult by donating a worthless Irish coin

Self-reflective: After this cheeky behavior, he thinks "the place was not worth stopping for" (line 18)

The Pivotal Moment

The tone shifts dramatically at the beginning of the third stanza with the phrase "Yet stop I did" (line 19). This self-conscious syntax marks a turn away from the colloquial rhythms of the earlier lines and signals the speaker's deeper engagement with the subject.

The Speaker's Contemplation

Despite his initial insolence, the speaker reveals that he "often" stops to look at churches (line 19). His ruminations focus on:

  • The disparity between churches' former profound importance and their declining significance in postwar Britain
  • Practical questions: "When churches fall completely out of use / What [shall we] turn them into?" (lines 22–23)
  • Imagining them filled with "rain and sheep" (line 26)

The Deeper Question

The speaker envisions a time when not only "belief" has died (line 34), but more disturbingly, "when disbelief has gone" (line 35)—when faithlessness itself no longer has meaning. This suggests a complete cultural forgetting of religious significance.

Transformation of Tone and Perception

By the final stanza, the tone becomes more respectful and ponderous. The church transforms from: - Earlier: "an accoutred frowsty barn" (line 53) - Later: "A serious house on serious earth . . . / In whose blent air all our compulsions meet" (lines 55–56)

The Paradox

Although the poem seems to argue that churches are becoming obsolete, the speaker ultimately declares they "never can be obsolete / Since someone will forever be surprising / A hunger in himself to be more serious" (lines 58–60).

Note the possible distancing: the speaker refers to this "someone" who "gravitat[es]" to the church, perhaps separating himself from this eternal human need for meaning and seriousness.

Reflection

  • How might the church resemble the contemplative space of poetry?
  • Does the speaker mourn the loss of religious belief despite his flippant remarks?
  • Is this a completely detached view of a major cultural institution in decline?
  • Can the poem be read as both religious/nostalgic AND skeptical/irreverent?

Discussion Questions

  1. Describe the speaker of "Church Going." What is his attitude toward the church he visits?

  2. Does the speaker in this poem care very much about the declining importance of churches?

  3. Why does the speaker say that "the place was not worth stopping for" yet admit that it "pleases [him] to stand in silence [t]here" (lines 18, 54)? Do you see any ambivalence here or elsewhere in the poem?

  4. Larkin and other poets identified with "the Movement" are often described as evidencing a rational, detached attitude toward their subject matter. To what extent does Larkin succeed in maintaining an aloof attitude in "Church Going"? Carefully examine any changes in tone between the first two and the remaining stanzas.

Debate Activity

Consider debating whether the poem seems more irreverent and skeptical OR more nostalgic and even religious. Search the poem for evidence supporting either interpretation.