The Full Text of “MCMXIV”
The Full Text of “MCMXIV”
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“MCMXIV” Introduction
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“MCMXIV” Summary
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“MCMXIV” Themes
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World War I’s Destructive Effect on English Society
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-32
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “MCMXIV”
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Lines 1-4
Those long uneven ...
... or Villa Park, -
Lines 5-8
The crowns of ...
... Bank Holiday lark; -
Lines 9-11
And the shut ...
... farthings and sovereigns, -
Lines 12-16
And dark-clothed children ...
... open all day; -
Lines 17-21
And the countryside ...
... wheat's restless silence; -
Lines 22-24
The differently-dressed servants ...
... dust behind limousines; -
Lines 25-28
Never such innocence, ...
... Without a word— -
Lines 28-32
the men ...
... such innocence again.
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“MCMXIV” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 1: “long,” “lines”
- Line 9: “shut shops”
- Line 12: “clothed”
- Line 13: “Called,” “kings,” “queens”
- Line 14: “tin”
- Line 15: “cocoa,” “twist”
- Line 17: “countryside,” “caring”
- Line 19: “flowering,” “fields”
- Line 22: “differently-dressed”
- Line 23: “huge houses”
- Line 28: “Without,” “word”
- Line 31: “Lasting,” “little,” “longer”
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Enjambment
Where enjambment appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2: “lines / Standing”
- Lines 2-3: “patiently / As”
- Lines 3-4: “outside / The”
- Lines 5-6: “sun / On”
- Lines 6-7: “faces / Grinning”
- Lines 7-8: “all / An”
- Lines 9-10: “bleached / Established”
- Lines 12-13: “play / Called”
- Lines 14-15: “advertisements / For”
- Lines 15-16: “pubs / Wide”
- Lines 18-19: “over / With”
- Lines 19-20: “fields / Shadowing”
- Lines 20-21: “lines / Under”
- Lines 22-23: “servants / With”
- Lines 27-28: “past / Without”
- Lines 28-29: “men / Leaving”
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Irony
Where irony appears in the poem:- Lines 1-8: “Those long uneven lines / Standing as patiently / As if they were stretched outside / The Oval or Villa Park, / The crowns of hats, the sun / On moustached archaic faces / Grinning as if it were all / An August Bank Holiday lark;”
- Lines 28-31: “the men / Leaving the gardens tidy, / The thousands of marriages, / Lasting a little while longer:”
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Repetition
Where repetition appears in the poem:- Line 3: “As if”
- Line 5: “The,” “the”
- Line 7: “as if”
- Line 9: “And,” “ the,” “the”
- Line 11: “The”
- Line 12: “And”
- Line 14: “The”
- Line 15: “and the”
- Line 17: “And”
- Line 18: “The”
- Line 19: “and”
- Line 22: “The”
- Line 24: “The”
- Line 25: “Never,” “ such innocence,”
- Line 26: “Never”
- Line 28: “the”
- Line 30: “The”
- Line 32: “Never such innocence again.”
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Consonance
Where consonance appears in the poem:- Line 1: “long,” “lines”
- Line 9: “shut shops”
- Lines 9-10: “bleached / Established”
- Line 10: “sunblinds”
- Line 12: “dark-clothed children,” “play”
- Line 13: “Called,” “kings,” “queens”
- Line 14: “tin advertisements”
- Line 15: “cocoa,” “twist”
- Line 17: “countryside,” “caring”
- Line 19: “flowering,” “fields”
- Line 21: “wheat's restless silence”
- Line 22: “differently-dressed servants”
- Line 23: “huge houses”
- Line 24: “dust”
- Line 25: “such innocence”
- Line 26: “since”
- Line 27: “itself,” “past”
- Line 28: “Without,” “word”
- Line 31: “Lasting,” “little while longer”
- Line 32: “such innocence”
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“MCMXIV” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- MCMXIV
- Villa Park
- The Oval
- Lark
- Bank Holiday
- Sunblinds
- Bleached
- Farthing and sovereigns
- Called after
- Tin advertisements
- Cocoa and twist
- Domesday lines
- Limousines
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(Location in poem: )
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “MCMXIV”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“MCMXIV” Speaker
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“MCMXIV” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “MCMXIV”
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More “MCMXIV” Resources
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External Resources
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The Poem Out Loud — Listen to Larkin read "MCMXIV" himself.
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Larkin's Life and Work — Further resources on Larkin from the Poetry Foundation.
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World War I — Learn more about the war that looms in the background of "MCMXIV."
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An Interview With the Poet — Watch poet John Betjeman interview Philip Larkin in 1964, the year he published The Whitsun Weddings.
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England at War — Take a look at some photographs that capture life during the war.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Philip Larkin
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