Carol
May-25-2011, 22:36 GMT
Unknown
 | Upon re-reading the poem "Aubade," a poem about death by the late British poet/librarian Philip Larkin, I was struck by the lins, "Waking at four to soundless dark, I stare.
In time the curtain-edges will grow light." Does anyone else think that "the light at the edge of the curtains" in "Love & Hard Times" is a reference to this?
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linclink
May-25-2011, 22:51 GMT
USA - United Staates America
 | Nice shootin´ Sister! Actually Paul Simon did a Kennedy Center Symposium earlier this year with the poet (who also co-wrote at least one song with Warren Zevon) Paul Muldoon, and rock critic & writer Bill Flanagan.
Paul Muldoon singled out loving that line, and Paul Simon mentioned that it referenced a line in a Phillip Larkin poem. Simon said he loved Larkin, but something to the effect of the darker & intense nature of his work led him to only be able to read him in small doses, but they both expressed their admiration for his work.
Later when Simon read "Darling Lorraine" Mr. Muldoon commented that it was as great as anything Larkin had ever written, and Simon seemed very flattered by that.
I think it´s Phillip Larkin who Paul always tells the story about when he´s asked about what he plans next after he´s released something new. If I recall correctly Larkin just lost his muse one day, out of nowhere, and everything dried up & he never wrote again...or at least never did enough to every publish again. Paul has noted for years that when he finishes an album, he never knows if it might be his last, precisely for the same reason...will the muse just become silent someday... |
Carol
May-26-2011, 14:37 GMT
Unknown
| "Waking up at four" also reminds me of "Still Crazy," although I may be imagining a connection. From what little I have read of Mr. Larkin´s later life, it doesn´t seem to have been very happy. He never married and seemed to have a rather grim view of human nature. He died at a young age of cancer. |