A critical analysis of The Bui
This is a poem that never spells out its subject but merely hints at it, the title for instance is nondescript and leaves the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. The imagery within the poem suggests that “The Building” is in fact a hospital. The “close ribbed streets” that “rise and fall” represent the chest of a man as he breathes. From the reading that this is in fact a hospital one may then logically conceive that “what keep drawing up/ At the entrance are not taxis” must therefore be ambulances. The opening line of the poem is Larkin giving his opinion of the status of the hospital “Higher than the handsomest hotel”, his opinion being that the hospital may not look like much but it serves a noble purpose and buildings such as hotels are inferior in this way. Also this can be read to say that the hospital dominates the skyline and is a landmark, “The lucent comb shows up for miles”. This is a place were people come and wait to be seen, this is the subject of both the second and third stanzas, this is the main activity that appears to go on in the building. “Like an airport lounge”, “tea at so much a cup” minor details that are important in the monotony of waiting. The people that are waiting are “caugh
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
, Hospital Larkin, poem larkin,
Approximate Word count = 812
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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