First Sight : : By Philip Larkin : : : :
Lambs that learn to walk in snow 1
When their bleating clouds the air
Meet a vast unwelcome, know
Nothing but a sunless glare. 4
Newly stumbling to and fro
All they find, outside the fold,
Is a wretched width of cold. 7
As they wait beside the ewe, 8
Her fleeces wetly caked, there lies
Hidden round them, waiting too, 10
Earth’s immeasureable surprise. 11
They could not grasp it if they knew, 12
What so soon will wake and grow 13
Utterly unlike the snow. 14
“First Sight” A Winter Poem by Philip Larkin From ‘Collected Poems’ by Philip Larkin describes young lambs taking their first steps into the big wide world in the snow. Nothing in our life is permanent and there is light behind every darkness. : : It has a sense of musicality, joy and upbeatness. This is partially achieved through the ABABADD rhyme scheme. Written in March 1956, a year where the winter extended into the start of the spring months and is therefore taken from Larkin’s own experiences. : : It is 26 Th poem in the 34 poems Collection : ” Thee Whitsun Weddings By Philip Larkin ( 1964 ) : : “First Sight” implies that there is more to come, a contrastingly optimistic view to most of the other poems like: “Love Songs in Age” , “Faith Healing”. : : There will be more sights, and to note that ‘Second Sight’ is generally used to mean an ability to look into the future or see spirits and therefore see more than there currently is. : : The paradise for Larkin is not heavenly, but here on Earth. It is not something awaited. It exists currently and is merely under cover. What is hoped for is a new means of perception, the melting away of one’s cloak of sorrows, so that one is reaquainted with the sustaining beauty that waited all along. Larkin evokes something “utterly unlike the snow.”The newborn lambs, who have just started to walk in the snowy weather see a vast land , before them. Thus the poem’s title ‘First Sight’ is justified. lambs, being born in Winter, do not know that the earth can be warm and blooming and overwhelming and powerful in a strange way. They will never be fully prepared for the brilliant sunshine the earth is about to give them. Just like babys, toddlers, children, teenagers and even adults will never fully grasp the idea of the next stage of their life until it comes. Life can be both bleak and beautiful. The world , the lambs and we are born into can, at times, appear only cruel and unforgiving, There is “immeasurable surprise” be it love, or friendship, kindness or serenity. That is the message. More true to life, reflective of the struggles which characterise fifties/sixties society. it’s better not to know what’s going on in your life, and then to be surprised. The poem fuses a number of common tropes associated with innocence: lambs, snow, the new-born.
“snow” as the last word in the last line, when this word had also ended the first line of the poem, suggests the cycle of the seasons, as if to remind us that the lambs, and we, can only ever have one ‘first sight’ of either the snow (or the world without snow). Larkin wishes to tell us : there is no other things are new only once. But that’s all the more reason to cherish them when they are, when the world still holds ‘immeasurable surprise. : : : :
Notes for each of the lines Pending visit this post again later on to enjoy the appreciation of the poem. : :
“First Sight” By Philip Larkin : : A winter poem by Philip Larkin : : Information Appreciation and poem Analysis Presented by V Jayaraj Pune India October 22 , 2022 : : ::
MADHU MALTI 