Chapter - 16 "Church Going"

- Philip Larkin

Introduction of the Poem

Church Going, written by P. A. Larkin, is a collection of his poems, based on the theme subject of man's indifference towards religion and his disliking for going to the religious places for worship and for listening to the sermons. After confirmed nothing to do, he entered a church. He so shut the door behind. In the church there were matting seats, stone some books, scattered flowers that were cut for the Sunday prayers and had now become brownish. There were brass and other stuff, and a musical instrument. There was silence. God alone knew since when it was brewing. He did not know it. He took off his moved forward, ran his hand around the front. He could see the roof clean and repaired. He was unknown to when it was done so. He mounted the dias, reached the desk, read some verses just indifferently, pronounced 'Here endeth' and stepped down. He gained Irish experience. He reflected that the place was probably not worth visiting. Yet he had stopped there. Infact he often did so. And he always he was at a loss whether he had done a right thing. He surprised as to what would happen when the Churches would be of no use.

At last the poet says that on the serious earth is a serious place in which mixed air exists the nation's feelings. Some will cherish the strong desire to be more serious and will be strongly drawn towards it about which he has heard that it was the place where people grew wiser.

Substance of the Poem

The modern man is fast transforming into a rational being. He is now more attracted towards science than towards God. It has resulted in a great change is the living and day to day life of human beings. People are not seeking solace in church.

The poet represents such a modern man. Naturally when he visits the church, he finds it almost deserted. Nobody goes there for the sake of being *looked after and nobody is there to look after the church. It is as though left wide open and the poet enters into it. Though, he admits that he visits churchs often times but without any purpose. The poet thinks that the religious place is turning obsolete day by day and it will be frequented only by those who still believed in superstitions or miracles.

हिन्दी सारांश

आधुनिक मानव तेजी से विवेकशील मानव में परिणत होता जा रहा है। अब वह ईश्वर से अधिक विज्ञान की ओर आकर्षित है। इसके कारण मानव के दिन-प्रतिदिन के जीवन में, रहन-सहन में बड़ा परिवर्तन सा आ रहा है। अब लोग चर्च में सान्तवना नहीं खोजता |

कवि ऐसे आधुनिक मानव का प्रतिनिधित्व करता है। इसलिये जब वह चर्च पहुँचता है तो वह उसे बिल्कुल सुनसान पाता है। कोई भी वहाँ अपनी देखभाल के लिये जाने वाला नहीं रह गया है। वह आगे खुला पड़ा है और कवि उसमें प्रवेश करता है । यद्यपि वह स्वीकार करता है कि वह कई बार इसी प्रकार चर्च आ जाता है पर उसका कोई उद्देश्य नहीं होता।

कवि सोचता है कि धार्मिक स्थल दिन-प्रतिदिन निष्प्रयोजन होता जा रहा है और वहाँ केवल वही लोग जाते रहेंगे जो अंधविश्वासों पर और चमत्कारों पर अपनी आस्था नहीं खो सके हैं।

Life of Works

Life: Philip Arthur Larkin was born on 19th August, 1922 in Coventry. His father Sydney Larkin, was the treasurer of the City Corporation of Coventry. He is one of the distinguished poets of England. He studied at King Henry VIII Grammar School in Coventry. His school days were uneventful and he graduated in 1943 from Oxford University. At Oxford his association with Kingsley Aims helped him to understand and define his own literary aims and ambitions. Then he took up a job in library of University in Wellington. In 1950 he was apointed as the sub-librarian at Queen's University, Belfast. Finally in 1954, he was appointed as the librarian at the University of Hull and there he remained till his death. He died on 2 December, 1985 in Kingston upon Hull, U.K.

Poetic Works: Larkin started writing poem at the age of fifteen. He began to write when he took up his first job. A number of poems by him were published in anthologies. His first volume of verse published in 1945, was 'The North Ship'. The second volume was published under the caption named as 'High Windows', in 1974. There are two volumes which have become most popular among the readers because in the first the circumstances have been discussed and in the other adjusted manner has been shown. He came to prominence in 1955 when his second collection of poems - The Less Deceived' and "The Whisum Weddings' (1964) were published.

In 1965, he was awarded with the Queen's Gold Medal for poetry. He received honorary doctorates from several British Universities.

Philip Larkin's Church Going comment on
Atheism and Role of Religion in Human Life

Philip Larkin's Church Going explores the reason for going to the church. He discusses the need for church as a spiritual base. He questions the need for going to the church. He describes the setting of the church which he enters. The poet makes sure that the church is empty and there is no celebration going on. He notices the matting, seats and stone. The flowers which were used for decoration are now faded and turned brown. This depicts the fading of religious impulse.

The speaker of the poem thinks about the future of such churches in general. People of that age were being ignorant towards religious traditions. He wonders who will be the last one to seek God in the church. The poem comments on the decline of organized religion and the rise of secular beliefs. The world is experiencing a void which is filled with materialism. The role of religion in human life is to satiate the spiritual needs. Every human being longs for spirituality whether knowingly or unknowingly. People without a religious faith become an atheist which creates a vaccum in their life. The poet observes a severe decline in the church attendance. He imagines how the churches will be used after it will be completely obsolete. The poet explores the reason behind the importance and relevance of these churches for so many decades. People celebrate the major events of their life in the church even in the age that lacks religious faith. It is ironic that people want God to witness their weddings, births and deaths even if they don't believe in God's own existence. The poem Church Going comments on atheism and the role of religion in human life.

Critical Appreciation of the Poem

'Church Going' is one of the finest poems of P.A. Larkin. It is a monologue. It depicts the speaker as an agnostic if not as a downright atheist. The poet believes in the Church going and he will continue to serve some emotional or spiritual purpose even after people's rejection of the current religious beliefs. The poem reveals the futility and the utility of going to a church. The revealation is half mocking and half-serious.

The poem shows the firm faith of the poet in the utility of religion and in the efficacy of the Church. He has unshakable belief that one day supersitition would disappeare just as belief has disappeared. But the disbelief will also disappear. Faith will be restored. The Church will never become useless, the religious ceremonies will never become obsolete. People will never lose faith in God.

The title of poem suggests a union of important stages of human life- birth, marriage and death which going to the Church represents. As far as its introducing feature is concerned, it is that once the poet becomes insured that he has nothing to proceed any further and done anythig. He closes the door behind. In the Chuch there are matching seats, some books, scattered flowers that are cut for the Sunday prayers and has now become brownish. There are other stuff and other musical instruments. There is silence in the Church. He can see the roof cleaned and repaired.

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