The explosion

1. The explosion Philip Larkin

2. The Explosion by Philip Larkin This poem describes a tragic accident, an explosion in a coal mine in which a group of miners lost their lives. At the exact moment of the accident the wives of the dying men had a vision. At that moment, their husbands appeared clearly in front of them, as well as certain words from the Bible.

3. The miners • The miners are heading to work in the coal pit, wearing work boots and overalls. • This is a typical group of working men. They smoke pipes and their conversation is marked by swearing and bad language. • Larkin says their language is ‘oath-edged’. • They laugh and joke as they walk to work together.

4. An air of menace • To the miners, this is just another day. They are unaware of the deadly explosion that will soon kill them. • However, there is an air of menace that hints at the destruction to come. • There is something sinister about the shadows pointing towards the mine. • ‘Shadows pointed toward the pithead’.

5. An air of menace • It is as if the shadows are pointing the workers towards their deaths. • The entrance to the coal pit in the poem brings to mind the gates of hell. • Hell has often been referred to as ‘the pit’. • There is a sense in the poem that the workers are descending to a place of doom and darkness.

6. The explosion occurs • The tremor from the explosion is felt in the nearby fields, startling the cows. • A cloud of dust is blown out of the mine and causes the sun’s light to become dim and blurred, as in a ‘heat-haze’. • Larkin doesn’t describe the explosion in the mine directly. He doesn’t describe the agony of the men struggling for their lives underground. • The chaos and horror of the mine is left to our imaginations.

7. The vision • At the moment of the accident, the wives of the dying men have a vision. Even though they were not all together, afterwards each claimed to have had a similar vision. • Firstly, a passage from the Bible appeared before them. It claims that after we die we travel to God’s house, where we will be reunited with the friends and relatives that have passed before us.

8. The vision • Then the wives had visions of their husbands: ‘for a second/ Wives saw men of the explosion’. • In this vision the men seem larger than life and ablaze with a golden light: ‘Gold as a coin’. • In one vision, a miner is carrying the lark’s eggs that were discovered in the way to work that morning: ‘One showing the eggs unbroken’.

9. What is this poem about? Life after death • This poem suggests that death is not the end. This is suggested by the wives’ vision of the men at the time of the accident. • They see words of hope from the bible and their husbands appear to them almost like angels. • The eggs held by one of the miners are a symbol of life after death.

10. What is this poem about? Life after death • Eggs are associated with birth and new life. The lark eggs have been unbroken by the tremors that shook the fields. • Similarly, our lives will be unbroken by death. Even after we live this life, we will continue to exist in God’s house.

11. What is this poem about? A social commentary It is also possible to read the poem as a social commentary on the conditions of mine workers. • Every day, they must walk into the hellish mouth of the pit. • The are described as ‘Coughing’ as they walk, indicating the damage done to their lungs. • The daily danger of their lives is clear when the explosion takes place.

12. What is this poem about? A social commentary • Tragically, it is only in death that the men’s difficult lives are transformed. • In death, they are ‘Gold as a coin’, whereas in life they were permanently blackened by the mine. • It is only in death that the miners rise up and transform themselves, to become ‘Larger than in life they managed’.

13. Questions • Why do you think Larkin does not describe the actual explosion? Do you think his indirect portrayal of the explosion works well? • What view of death and life after death is put forward in this poem? • The Explosion is considered one of Larkin’s most moving poems. Describe your response to the poem.