'Broadcast' by Phillip Larkin

'Broadcast' is a poem that Larkin wrote for Maeve Brennan while he knew she was at the City Hall watching the BBC Symphony Orchestra, he listened to it at the same time on the radio. I think this poem is about both a love for Maeve and music.

Larkin captures the sounds he hears with words. The audience at the Symphony Orchestra are making "giant whisperings" and are "coughing" whilst waiting for the music to begin, Larkin mentioning this suggests that he takes notice and appreciates every slight sound he hears as he's waiting to hear the orchestra, it may also suggest he's impatient because he just wants the music to begin. When the music begins it's "sudden", suggesting that it has a lot of power on the listeners because whenever it's heard it comes as a shock even if they were waiting for it. The use of onomatopoeia on the "scuttle on the drum" allows the reader to imagine hearing the sounds Larkin was, helping to share the same experience. The "sudden scuttle" is also alliteration which again helps to create sounds. The "snivelling of the violins" personifies them, saying they're crying, it being a snivel suggests that the sound the violins are making is quite gentle and soft. Larkin thinks of Maeve's "face among all those faces" in the audience at the orchestra, this could suggest that Larkin felt strongly about her because the music which he appears to appreciate, reminds him of her. Also, it may be significant that despite all of the different instruments playing at the orchestra that Larkin would have been hearing, he still has space in his mind to think about Maeve's face. Larkin implies that the music and Maeve are both "beautiful and devout", suggesting that his love for them are equal and he feels committed to them both, perhaps he shares the love of the music with Maeve because she loves it and he loves what she loves, or he may have just loved the music despite her. The music is in "cascades", suggesting it flows beautifully like a waterfall does and perhaps the speaker feels this same way about Maeve. While the speaker is listening to the music on the radio, he sees in his house the woman's "slightly-outmoded shoes", this suggests the pair are close as they have a private joke and her shoes are in his house so they must spend time together. However, if this poem is about the love for this woman as well as music, I get the impression she doesn't feel the same way about him as he does her. I think this particularly in the last half of the poem. It "goes quickly dark" in the orchestra, this could be a metaphor for how the speaker may not understand/be in the dark suddenly about the pair's relationship, perhaps the relationship suddenly doesn't work out and the speaker doesn't understand why. It seems strange that these two people who are supposedly close, who both enjoy the same music are not there together at the Orchestra, but are still both listening to it, it may imply that maybe there has been an argument between them. The "withering leaves on half-emptied trees" could suggest that there is a gradual decay in the relationship between the speaker and the woman. Perhaps this link to do with Autumn and the seasons could suggest that the speaker's bad luck in relationships is like a cycle, suggesting that his relationships will never last. The "rabid storms of chording", in the musical instruments could metaphorically be suggesting that there was anger between the speaker and the woman, and this "overpower(s)" the speaker's mind. The speaker feels "shamelessly", suggesting that if he does done something wrong in the relationship, he doesn't at all feel shame, perhaps this could be partly why the relationship may have not worked out. Despite this, the "cut-off shout" at the end of the music, again reminds him of the woman, it being cut-off suggests that the pair have have had their final words with each other and they may not see each other again. This makes the speaker feel "desperate" for the woman, suggesting that he wants to have her in his life but can't.

Overall, I think this poem tells the story of how music can allow people to think about things and can tell a story that may have not been able to be told and expressed as well in another way. The poem also expresses how in a relationship, after an argument or a fall out, one or both partners could really regret what's happened and feel "desperate" to have the other person back and sort things out, perhaps because they've realised their love for each other. This idea reminds me of Dannie Abse's 'A Scene from Married Life'. Also, the idea about not being able to be with the person you want to be with reminds of Larkin's 'Wild Oats' and 'Postcard to His Wife' by Dannie Abse. However, despite the similarities, 'Wild Oats' and 'Postcard to His Wife' are still very different poems to each other.