Love Songs in Age

Love Songs in Age

Overview of meaning: This is a woman who has recently lost a loved one and is going back to the love songs that he left. "the illusions with which we try to protect ourselves from harsh reality.  In this case the illusion is that of love and the impossible demands we make of it." Larkin usually is less sentimental and Abse is usually more sentimental. Larkin is talking as a woman-different. 

Themes: Love and relationships, characters, time and its passing, music, women and marriage, dissapointment in realtity

Structure: A, B, A, C, B, C, D, D- General note on rhyme:  a more complex rhyme scheme, combined with longer stanza units, generally reflects a complex development of thought in a poem. The rhyming couplet at the end represents the love at couples but it is at the end showing that the relationship has to end.  The repetition of "one"- listing to show many and showing…