Larkin's poetry reflects a certain dark humor, often witty conveying a powerful message. There is certainly control and elegance in Larkin's work; the subject matter is appropriate and therefore has an impact on the reader rather than an expression of elegance in the traditional sense. There is elegance in the brutality of his messages in both "Ambulances" and "The Building", but to what extent are these comments powerful and relevant enough to be considered "appreciated" and to what extent can they be said to be shaped and checked? ?Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Much of Larkin's humor lies in the intelligence of his perspective on the subject. A text is undoubtedly considered of literary value when the topic covered is considered serious, perhaps dealing with moral and philosophical topics of recognized importance. Since both poems I chose question the purpose of life and the inevitable truth of death, this confirms the seriousness that makes them appreciated. For example, in “Ambulances,” the moral and philosophical approach he takes may relate to how Larkin thinks about the dying patient as he experiences “the sudden closure of loss around something that has almost come to an end.” At this point he sympathizes with their fear. The symbolic use of the verb “to close” has a cruel sense of finality, metaphorically emphasizing the closure one would literally feel in an ambulance, but the possible end of life itself. Here he is reflecting on the loss that death will bring; that “unties” everything from family and identity – the philosophy behind this is questioning “family” and “identity”, are they all that really matters? Similarly, in 'The Building' there is an elegant fatalism as he writes “All know they will die. Not yet, maybe not here, but eventually, and somewhere like this. [the hospital]” which evokes an emotional reaction from the reader. As I mentioned in my introduction, there is necessarily a brutality to the seemingly matter-of-fact message, and here the pattern and control are deliberately rigid and reflect the finality of death. As Larkin presents the inevitability of death, he commands us to recognize that regardless of a person's identity or qualities, we will all die. In another of Larkin's poems, "Mr Bleaney", the darkness of his subject recurs in his reference to "Bed, upright chair, sixty watt bulb, no hook behind the door, no space for books or bags". the stanza shows his belief that it reflects the hollowness of Mr Bleaney's life and the absence of character, similarly, the reference to "books or bags" highlights a lack of desire to promote literature and imagination. In 'Mr Bleaney', Larkin challenges his readers to reflect on how we live. An absence of individuality is also highlighted in 'The Building', when he describes the patients as “women, men; old, young; raw facets of the only currency this place accepts.” Here he suggests that we are all sorted like “coins” into corresponding categories, dehumanized and instead judged based on medical notes and labels. As with most of Larkin's poems, he takes a particular experience and finds an overarching truth in it with his witty and surprising language. To be valued, the topic covered must contain issues that concern everyone. In 'Ambulances', the victim's suffering becomes the model for all life lived and all deaths experienced – therefore affecting all people. However, the topic itself is distressing; and living, according to this, is nothing more than a race towards death. Therephrase “[dying] brings closer what remains to come,” refers to the process of dying; getting sick and growing old leads to the inevitability and finality of death itself. The final line, “And boring to distance ourselves from all that we are,” suggests that we are left isolated by the experience of moving towards death, distanced from everything we associate with “our identity.” The ingenuity that Larkin presents in this final verse can be compared to the final verse of "The Building"; "Nothing opposes the approaching darkness, even if the crowds tempt every evening with useless, weak and propitiatory flowers." Larkin's ironic spirit is clear in both of these final lines where he expresses the futility of trying to ignore or disguise the truth of death itself, here Lark challenges us to question "the coming darkness" and reflect once again about the way we lived. The alliterative phrase condemns the meaningless flowers that are used as protection from the visitors' inability to help the patients. In comparison, in both "Ambulances" and "The Building", there is a contrast between the context of death experienced in the two. Given that Ambulances was written in 1961, this was at a time when the National Health Service was just starting to make its impact on universal medicine felt. At this point, if one was on a journey to death, one could not turn back as one's fate was inevitable; before the advent of the NHS, the majority died silently at home. The introduction of the new healthcare system gave a sense of hope, which Larkin scorned in "Ambulances", suggesting that he did not have the same optimism as others. "The Building" was written in 1972, after a period of time in which the NHS had developed significantly. This contrasts with the description of the hospital in "The Building"; the language like the buildings is layered and complex, representative of the national health service that was developing. "The building" represents the new religion of medicine as Larkin writes "To see how many floors it needs, how tall it is now" The use of the verb "need" suggests a sense of urgency, as if "The building" itself is in a race to constantly keep pace with the coherent development of the new medical world. Larkin uses a metaphorical thread related to religion in both poems. The philosophical nature of his word choices focuses on this central metaphor; that medicine was this time seen by many as the new religion. This is especially clear in "The Building," where a sense of hope guides people through illness, allowing them to hope that this particular illness is not part of their journey to death. At a time when the NHS was in its infancy, people had a newfound sense of hope. However, in both poems, Larkin extinguishes the false hope seen in the new and largely unknown world of medicine, underlining his belief that, regardless of any medical developments, death will always remain an inevitable part of life. He asks his readers to think about death in order to live; suggests that people must accept "slow death" and the inevitability that death brings in order to make the most of each day. Taking a more direct approach in "Ambulances", there are many literal references to religion itself. For example, the description of the ambulance is “closed like the confessionals” immediately evoking a sense of secrecy and isolation in the reader. The hope linked to the “new religion” of medicine is evident when he says “Poor soul, they whisper of their own anguish”, showing the empathy people feel towards the patient in the poem; yet their "own anguish" proposes.