Philip Larkin and Dannie Abse both write poems about loss and death, but with different perspectives. In "In Llandough Hospital", Abse pleads with a doctor to hasten his father's death to end his suffering, depicting his declining condition metaphorically. He recalls his close relationship with his father and questions what will remain after his death. Similarly, Larkin writes about loosening ties of life in the face of death in poems like "Ambulances". However, while Larkin presents love and relationships as superficial, Abse maintains a more open and positive view of such topics in the face of mortality.

1. „IN LLANDOUGH
HOSPITAL‟
Philip Larkin.

2. Stanza 1 and 2.
„To hasten night would be
humane.‟
Half rhyme.
I, a doctor, beg a doctor,
For still the darkness will not come –
his sunset slows, his first star pain.
Alliteration &
This shows
metaphor for how
Abse to be
his father‟s life is
compassionate
slowly disappearing. I plead: „We know another law.
– loving nature
For one maimed bird we‟d do as much, of Abse‟s.
„etiquette‟ – must
Abse‟s
and if a creature need not suffer one suffer just
desperation to
prevent the death
must he, for etiquette, endure?‟ because it is he
customary code for
of his father. of
Theme
polite behaviour
death/moving towards
amoung memebers
death is suggested

3. Stanza 3.
Death is life
and life is
death.
Earlier, „Go now, son,‟ my father said,
for my sake commanding me.
Rich, poor, Jewi
His
sh or not, deathNow, since death makes victims of us all, father does
is inevitable.
he‟s thin as Auschwitz in that bed. not want Abse to
see him in such a
poor condition of
Abse‟s father was
health.
Jewish and so he
Concentration
Simile – This
is illl and spiritless
camp for the Jews
portrays his father
like the Jews were
during the war.
as a broken man.
when they were
(Holocaust).
suffering and
dying in the

4. Stanza 4.
Still his courage startles me. The fears
I‟d have, he has none. Who‟d save
Socrates from the hemlock,
Admiring his
father‟s bravery. or Winkelried from the spears?
Abse also
thinksphilisophica
lly like Larkin.
Both socrates and
Winkelried died with her
pride and glory.
Greek
philosoph
er who
drunk the
poisonous
drink.
Like Larkin,
Abse sees
death as an
inevitable part

5. Stanza 5.
Negative
connotation
and
negative
We quote or misquote in defeat,
comparison
. This
in life, and at the camps of death.
creates a
Here comes the night with all its stars,
vivid image
bright butchers‟ hooks for man and meat. of the
concentrati
on camps.
Alliteration.
Implies how the
To be put on display
corpses were treated
like meat at a
after the death – the
butchers – brutal and
Jews were hung up.
graphic depiction.

6. Stanza 6.
I grasp his hand so fine,
Child-like: Trying to get
hold of the comfort that a
child would get from his
father. Loving,
sympathetic and
compassionate gesture.
so mild,
which still is warm surprisingly,
This shows that
Abse has a close
not a handshake either, father,
relationship with
his father –
but as I used to when a child.
Loving, gentle and
creates a sense of
compassion once
again.
Makes the
poem more
personal to
Abse.

7. Stanza 7.
And as a child can‟t comprehend
what germinates philosophy,
so like a child I question why
Repition of
Negative
Abse
connotation.
depicting and
reminiscing night with stars, then night without end.
back to when
Curiosity as any
The structure of the poem is consistent
he was a
child would
and Abse writes four lines in each
child.
have.
stanza to show this. Abse also writes in
a very fluent style to maybe show the
continuity of life after the death of his

8. Similarities and Differences: Larkin
and Abse.
„In Llandough Hospital‟ Abse implies that it is his father who is passing away in
the hospital and so this explores the theme of death and loss of a loved one.
Similarly, Larkin also writes about his/the persona‟s loss of the mother and
he describes and depicts this is in a very similar and metaphorical way in
„Home Is So Sad‟ and „Reference Back‟.
In „Ambulances‟ by Larkin, he also metaphorically describes the ties of life
loosening and giving away those things in life that are the most significant to
us. „In Llandough Hospital‟ we see how Abse‟s ties of life are loosening in
stanzas 6 and 7 as he begins to question the things that he believes in: “And
as a child cant comprehend, what germinates philosophy, so like a child I
question why night with stars, then night without end”.
Larkin and Abse both seem to not depict what they are saying directly. They use
abstract nouns and metaphors to imply what is being said and what is going
on. However, Philip Larkin and Dannie Abse have very different and
contrasting attitudes to relationships. On the whole, Larkin presents the
concepts of love and marriage in „The Whitsun Weddings‟ as very superficial
and meaningless, whereas Abse appears to be less such nihilistic and more
open and positive about such topics.