Abstract
This essay considers the significance of the supernatural in Larkin’s life and work, and, in particular, examines the influence of M. R. James on both. Part one (sections I–XII) is largely concerned with the subject matter of Larkin’s poetry, but part two (sections XIII–XXI) tries to show that Larkin’s responsiveness to the eerie and ghostly – suffused and adjusted by James’s influence – not only affected his choice of subjects, but imbued his deepest feelings about poetry itself.
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© 2011 M. W. Rowe
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Rowe, M.W. (2011). Larkin and the Creepy. In: Philip Larkin: Art and Self. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230302150_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230302150_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-32145-2
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-30215-0
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature CollectionLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)