'Ambulances' by Phillip Larkin

'Ambulances' seems to have a strong theme of death being inevitable.


A confessional is found in Roman Catholic churches where Catholics admit to their sins, a reason they do this is to make sure they still go to heaven. The fact that the ambulances were "closed like confessionals" suggests that the person's life is vulnerable and is hanging on a "thread". Also, it makes me think of purgatory, but instead of the decision being made of going into heaven or hell, it's life or death. As well as this, it being "closed" could show how no matter how much people cared about the person inside, they cannot help and the person's life depends on what happens inside the ambulance, emphasising how death is inevitable no matter what happens while you're living. The ambulance being "grey" could be a metaphor for how the person's life is at risk as grey is thought to be an unclear colour as opposed to black and white, showing again how the person's life is vulnerable. I think "All streets in time are visited" is a metaphor for how everyone is going to die at some point.

The children "strewn" to watch the ambulance, making them sound scattered around very casually, suggesting that death is a fact of life and perhaps it shouldn't be feared so much. However, the "smell of different dinners" makes me think of families enjoying eating together and how perhaps everyday family time is taken for granted because the person inside the ambulance could be taken away from this, creating a sense of loss. The "red" stretcher could be symbolic for how the person going into the ambulance is the centre of attention as it made me think of the red carpet which celebrities walk up. However, I thought this could be a negative thing as I get the impression that the people watching are more nosey rather than having genuine care for the person going into the ambulance. The person going into the ambulance is "stowed", showing that they're hidden from the public to see. It could also be a metaphor for how a lot of us hide and try and ignore that we're going to die.

Death is "the solving emptiness that lies just under all we do", to me the "solving" shows how with each second that passes our life is "solving", adding up and getting closer to death, leaving less life left, emphasising how life is precious and how with time, the way we spend our life adds up to who we are at the end. I also think that the persona may have found a comfort with death as "solving" seems like a positive word. The "emptiness" is quite a frightening thought, how after having years and years of living, having so many memories and feeling so many different emotions, it seems crazy that all these can disappear and turn into "emptiness" like they never existed, when some of these things meant everything to us at one point. Death lying "under all we do" seems "blank" and cold but also "true" as it is true that with everything we do we're closer to our death. The witnesses of the person going into the ambulance were whispering "at their own distress" which I think again the persona is suggesting that the people were more concerned about the realisation that they've had that they're going to die one day, rather than the potential death of their neighbour as it was "their own" distress instead of the person's in the ambulance. The persona may be suggesting how sometimes it can take something horrible to happen to make us appreciate what we have.

The memories begin to "loosen", showing how the person dying is slowly slipping away and become detached from their life, also they're being set free as they're no longer tied to life. Being "unreachable inside a room" suggests that in the end everyone is going to be alone. However, being "unreachable" is ambiguous as it could mean being safe, free and having solitude. The "exchange of love" suggests that love is always equal between two people and suggests that people only give love to receive it, like an exchange for goods and money in shops. However, this implication seems quite simplistic to me and suggests that love is a conscious decision but we can't control who we love, or who loves us.  

The rhyme of the poem is repetitive and consistent and the rhythm is very regular too, it sounds almost like a heart beating, this could represent how somebody is dying in the poem, but also because everyone's heart beats to a similar rhythm, the poem relates to everyone because everyone will die.