The Life Philosophy In The Poetry Of Philip Larkin

Philip Larkin has been regarded as one of the greatest English poets in the 20^th century after T.S. Eliot. His poetry reflects poetic idea of the coexistence between the deep suspect spirit and hope. On one side, he is considered a desperate pessimist for three themes about solitude, desire and death which show the common living condition and the predestined fate of humankind. On the other side, the light of love, vitality and ideal in the poetry demonstrate the poet's strong determination to face the reality as well as the sense of responsibility, while expressing the unusually serious living attitude and life philosophy. In Larkin's poetry, illusion and reality struggle with each other from time to time. In the searching of the spirit pedigree of the poet, this deep paradox could be traced to the rationality and reasoning exhibited in his poetry. As the conclusion, life philosophy in his poetry refers to the philosophic understanding of individual living form, which lead to the rational vision of life itself, thus reflect the complexity of the individual living and give rise to the whole concern for human being.