Reference Back Analysis

Themes:

• Time
• Family
• Memories
• Music
• Loss

Title:

The idea of referencing back is looking back into the past? It's also a musical reference and therefore, connecting the past with memories.

Context:

This poem is based upon Larkin and his own mother, who he regularly visited following his fathers death. Through playing music in a seperate room of his mothers house, mother and son connect over their joint losses, the memories of which are evoked by music.

Stanza One:

• 'That was a pretty one'-Direct speech, commenting on the song choice? Not a powerful adjective, his mother isn't keen on the song choice but wants to connect with her son through the music.
• 'Unsatisfactory' -Repetition, suggests the persona doesn't have a very good outlook on life and is always thinking negatively.
• 'Wasting my time, that you looked so much forward to' - 'wasting' infers the persona is incdonsiderate and that he doesn't appear to enjoy his time at home whereas the mother looks forward to her son coming to visit her and this dichotomy of thought highlights the gap between the two people in terms of distance and feelings. There is little intimacy and staying in seperate rooms could indicate the son advoiding the mother which could be perhaps to avoid the awkwardness of being reminded of his dads death. 

Stanza Two:

• 'Oliver's Riverside Blues' -Song is a…