Philip Larkin

Philip Larkin did not get married; but developed relationship with a string of women. First of them was Ruth Bowman, a sixteen year old academically ambitious school girl, whom he met in 1944. They became engaged in 1948; but split shortly after he moved to Belfast in 1950.

He also had long-lasting relationship with Monica Jones, a lecturer in English; Maeve Brennan, his colleague at Hull and Betty Mackereth, his secretary at Hull. Among them, Monica Jones was the main beneficiary of his will.

In 1985, Philip Larkin was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. Although he underwent a surgery on 11 June 1985, his cancer was found to have spread and become inoperable.

Philip Arthur Larkin was born on 9 August 1922, in Radford, near Coventry, England. His father, Sydney Larkin, had a unique personality, combining a love for poetry with certain degree of nihilism. An admirer of Nazism, he twice attended Nuremberg rallies. A self-made man, he later became Coventry City Treasure.

His mother, Eva Emily Larkin nee Day, was a passive woman, who preferred to be taken care of by her dominating husband. Philip was born younger of their two children, having an elder sister named Catherine or Kitty, ten years his senior.

When he was five years old, the family moved to a larger house near Coventry Railway Station. However, he did not seem to have any happy memory about his childhood. Life was cold and uneventful, neither friends nor relatives ever visited their home.

Until the age of eight, Philips studied at home under the tutorship of his mother and sister. Thereafter, he was admitted to King Henry VIII Junior School, from where he went to King Henry VIII Senior School.

Sometime during his school years, Philip started writing, contributing regularly to the school magazine. He also developed a deep passion for jazz and his father encouraged it by buying him a drum kit and a saxophone. Otherwise engaged, he did poorly in the School Certificate examination in 1938.

Soon after leaving Oxford, Philip Larkin returned to Coventry, living with his parents for some time. Finally in November 1943, he began his career as a librarian at Wellington, Shropshire. While working there, he furthered his education, studying to qualify as a professional librarian, concurrently continuing to write and publish.

In 1945, ten of his poems appeared in ‘Poetry from Oxford in Wartime’. Later in the same year, as his first book ‘The North Ship’ was published, these poems were included in it.

In 1946, he had his first novel, ‘Jill’, published. Written between 1943 and 1944, while he was studying at St John's College, Oxford, the story is set in wartime Oxford. This was also the year when he became Assistant Librarian at the University College of Leicester.

Also in 1946, he discovered the poems of Thomas Hardy and became one of his greatest admirers, learning from him how to use everyday happenings to form the basis of his poems. Later, he acknowledged that the discovery was a turning point in his career.

In 1947, he published his last novel, ‘A Girl in Winter’. Although scholars like John James Osborne found it to be “a harbinger of greatness” he did not publish any more fiction after this, ostensibly for want of inspiration.

In 1955, Philip Larkin returned to England and took up the position of the Librarian at the University of Hull on 21 March 1955. He spent most of his time at the library, using his office as his study, where he did both his official works and private writings.

In October 1955, he had his second collection of poems, ‘The Less Deceived’ published by the Marvel Press. Most of the poems in this collection were written in Belfast; only eight being written sometime in 1940s. It established him as a poet.

In 1956, he rented his own self-containing apartment on the top floor of a three storied house and started working from there. However, he could not publish his next work until 1964. One reason could be that he became very busy in upgrading the library.