Deep Sea Diver Poem Analysis

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In “Deep Sea Diver”, Jennings considers the existential problem of making a choice. The metaphor she uses are those of the sea which releases the deep sea diver from responsibility for action, and the island, “The freedom of the air”, where the diver has to accept responsibility for his actions when he makes choices. The diver therefore, feels “strange above water” because in kind sea he is free while, “Islands begin/Insisting upon choice and he is full/of loss, uneasy wondering what to love” (20) The islands demand too much and it is “a dive more deep” The wares were indifferent but “the mainland asks/ A chosen attitude” (20) The diver is thus like every one of us, wanting to escape from responsibility into a world of escape. Time and Philosophy: There are several Movement poems on philosophical or metaphysical themes. Larkin’s “No Road” is quiet in tone but it is deceptive. The use of nature in the poem links the experience of the lovers with the universal passing of life. The metaphor of the road suggests the firmness and breadth of intimacy of the lovers but this is man-made. The destructive aspect of nature reminds us that man-made things are ephemeral. It links together the past, the present and future in an effective way that the result is not simply a presentation of minor …show more content…

Birds mate only at one time and the sky is full of birds only during certain seasons , the moon wanes periodically , the tiger waits for the moment of the passion and when the tigress comes the whole world is agog and Earth is now only with its “one sure element”, unreason and passion. Then everything is quiet. The birds go back to rest , “the new moon waiting for years to be/stared at here,” and man has his mind ajar wondering at creation. The poem is not drably unassertive but is vigorous and

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