'Wild Oats' by Phillip Larkin

'Wild Oats' is quite a colloquial poem using language such as "about", "bosomy", "specs" and "got back" rather than being more poetic.As well as this, the poem doesn't have a consistent rhyme making it more colloquial as it sounds similar to talking. The poem is about "two girls" Larkin met, it's suspected that "bosomy English rose" is referring to a woman named Jane Exall and the "friend in specs" is referring to a woman called Ruth Bowman. From reading the poem and understanding the background of it the reader can tell that the speaker of the poem is almost definitely Larkin.

The speaker limits the images of the women to their appearances suggesting a shallowness in the speaker, I think this is quite degrading as the women are essentially reduced down to sexual objects. The first woman mentioned is "bosomy English rose" which is a stereotypical idealised physical appearance of a woman, making her sound vitalised and more desirable than the second woman mentioned as she is just her "friend in specs", this being the only description of her stereotypically suggests she is second best and plain. Despite this, it is the woman in "specs" that the speaker could "talk to", implying that maybe he felt "bosomy English rose" was too good for him, or perhaps he felt intimidated by her.

The enjambment between the first and second stanza suggests that the speaker actually had a "seven" year serious relationship with the "friend" which ended when the speaker "got back" the "ten-guinea ring" he gave her presumably because they were engaged. The speaker "met beautiful twice" suggesting he didn't even think the person he was planning on marrying was beautiful, he was still thinking about "bosomy English rose". It also suggests that "bosomy English rose" was the most beautiful and only beautiful thing the speaker had seen in his life. The speaker said he thought "bosomy English rose" was trying "not to laugh" both times she met him, implying he felt that he thought she was out of his league.

The speaker and the "friend in specs" came to "an agreement" that he was "too selfish, withdrawn and easily bored to love", showing that at least he tried to be in a serious relationship. The speaker saying "well, useful to get that learnt" sounds sarcastic and cynical of the relationship he had, like he felt he had wasted his time. Learning that he is basically incapable of being a relationship, it would be expected that there would be much more sadness and disappointment in the poem, however it is quite casual and isn't portrayed as significant, nor is his previous relationship with the "friend in specs", despite the engagement. Even after twenty years, the speaker still has "two snaps, of bosomy rose with fur gloves on" the sexual description of the photos of the woman suggest that ultimately the speaker was never interested in love, instead his desires were only based on physical/sexual attraction. Maybe the "two snaps of bosomy rose" were called "unlucky charms" by the speaker because he thought he had seen the most beautiful person, no one ever could match up to her and it's suggested that because of this, his future relationships were doomed.

The title being 'Wild Oats' refers to the phrase to "sow your wild oats" which basically means for a young man to be wild and have sex with lots of people before settling down. Therefore 'Wild Oats' being the title of the poem is ironic as the speaker didn't sow their wild oats before settling down, perhaps the speaker is suggesting that this is where he went wrong.