Philip Larkin
Page 58
23 June 1972
Durrants Hotel, London
My very dear old creature,
Well, we had a better day yesterday than I expected. The day started dull & dreary, & rain delayed the start of play till nearly 12: our seats are out in the open so there’s no shelter! However, they started, & the game crept on, until eventually the sun came out & by teatime it was quite a good day. The cricket was interesting, though England did well to start with. We take our lunch. It’s quite impossible to get anything to eat there, the crowds are so big. Queues for everything, including lavatories.
After play was over we went to have dinner at Stephen Spender’s, where Auden was staying, so we had quite a poetic evening. Fortunately Auden likes to go to bed early so we broke up at a reasonable hour & were back here by 11 p.m. – bar just closed! There was a lot more about the laureateship in The Times, Auden has declared he doesn’t want it & is an American anyway. I am still mentioned. Brr!
Today the sun’s shining brightly and poor Monica has to go back to Leicester for an examiners’ meeting, so she’ll miss play today. We think of you very affectionately & wonder if you see the cricket on TV?
Much love
P.1
1 Eva has written on the back of the envelope: ‘Stephen Spender ’72 4th June’.
31 July 1972
32 Pearson Park, Hull
My very dear old creature,
Your letter arrived very early today, as early as the paper – thank you very much. You don’t say if you have changed your room yet, so I expect you haven’t. I’m glad you are sitting out in the sun. Make the most of it!1
I got on with my proofs better yesterday,2 but they are difficult things to finalise: one change can mean many other changes, especially in page numbers. I had the steak last night & some turnips – very good, really more than I wanted. My weight is up to 13¼ st! Perhaps one doesn’t need food in summer.
In The Times this morning Sir John Betjeman says that if the Laureateship goes to the best poet it should go to me! I don’t think I want it.
Closer examination of my armchair reveals it’s in a bad way – perhaps I shd buy a new one. But it’s very difficult to buy a really comfortable armchair.
Much love Philip
1 On 29 July Eva wrote: ‘the nurse has brought me out and the sun feels very hot. / I wonder what time Kitty will come? Nurse has just been and given most of us a tablet. Don’t know what it is for. / The sun has gone in. Expect it will come out again. / I’m afraid you will find this a very dull letter. Of course there is not much to write about. / After lunch: – There was no time to finish this before. Kitty & Rosemary came about 11.30 a.m. bringing all sorts of things. […] Fancy! it is only one o’clock! I expect there will only be a few visitors this afternoon. I wonder whether there will be anyone unexpected to see me. I forget when the Circle came last. […] It is very quiet in the lounge most people are dozing.’
2 The Oxford Book of Twentieth-Century English Verse.
8 August 1972
32 Pearson Park, Hull
My very dear old creature,
Thank you for your kind letter wishing me many happy returns of tomorrow. I certainly feel the impudence of being 50 rather! I suppose it’s all right when you get used to it, but I feel the grave is uncomfortably near!
It’s nice of you to offer me a present – I told Kitty I needed a little plastic container to bring grapefruit juice in when I come home – they seem to have stopped making small tins – and she said she’d try to find one. Tomorrow I shall have to buy the staff a lot of cakes – Betty & I will go out in the morning. We shall have to buy about a dozen! So you can think of me.
Monica has given me some lovely music records – very enjoyable. I had a card from a complete stranger bearing a limerick:
There was a young fellow of Hull
Who found life distressingly dull:
He would sit on the quay
And gaze out to sea,
Singing ‘O for the wings of a gull!’
Very funny, isn’t it? Anyway, dear old creature, I’ll be thinking of you – as always!
Much love Philip1
1 On the back of the envelope Eva has written ‘8th August ’42’.
9 August 1972
32 Pearson Park, Hull
My very dear old creature,
Many thanks for your birthday wishes. The card hasn’t come yet, but I expect it will. I had a nice notelet from A. Nellie plus a funny card, so she isn’t dead yet! Eva has had an operation, & A. Nellie is ‘staying with friends’. Kitty & Rosemary sent very nice cards & I have had one or two unexpected cards & letters – one from Professor Brett, my first chairman here, welcoming me to the ‘over-50s’ club.
I shall certainly tape-record my programme, so we may be able to play it you.1
Betty has given me a silver cup – curious, but very pretty – & Kitty a book of stamps (you’ll get most of them) & some soap. Monica gave me some records. Well, must go to lunch now, but thank you again and be sure of all my love –
1 ‘Larkin at 50: a birthday tribute’, BBC Radio 3, 9 August 1972.
14 September 1972
32 Pearson Park, Hull
My very dear old creature,
Well, I did collect the watch this morning: they have thoroughly overhauled it and put in a new jewel. Cost £2.50! We shall see if it goes better. I don’t like to abandon it without a struggle, as it was Daddy’s watch & quite a good one.
I can almost remember him buying it: it was certainly before the war, & down Smithford Street in Coventry (if I remember aright).1 He bought me one at the same time, wch was much appreciated as I could then tell how long each school lesson had still to go, & so feel less bored.
It doesn’t seem a very bright day today, but I hope you are keeping warm. Have you been watching the Olympics on television?2 You will be better informed on world events than I, wch wouldn’t be difficult. You see the newspaper and television, I only see the newspaper.
Always thinking of you,
Much love,
Philip
1 Once the main shopping street in central Coventry, but engulfed by post-war redevelopment.
2 The 1972 Summer Olympics were held in Munich, West Germany, 26 August–11 September.
20 September 1972
Dear Kitty,
Exchange between myself and Bird enclosed.
His usual infelicities apart, it seems to me that either you or I shd be informed of any change in Mother’s condition, & not be left to find it out when – and if – we visit her. What do you think?1
Did he tell you? P
1 Larkin enclosed a typed letter to Mr Bird noting that, after not visiting his mother for four weeks, he had discovered ‘a minor but definite deterioration in her condition’. He asked whether Bird and Dr Wynn-Williams thought this would be a permanent change. Bird replied that the doctor had concluded ‘that Mrs. Larkin has had a mild cerebral Thrombosis, and the prognosis is: there should be a gradual improvement, with the possibility of recurrent relapses. […]’ He added: ‘Mrs. Larkin worried unnecessarily over your absence, but of course there was little we could do about that.’
11 October 1972
32 Pearson Park, Hull
My very dear old creature,
Well. I am not poet laureate! Sir John Betjeman has been appointed, so all is over. I have been asked to write an article for the Sunday Times about him – it all makes work! However, I am very pleased: long may he reign.
In fact I got up at 5.30 a.m. to do the article today: I woke & lay worrying, I thought I might as well be up.
I should like to think you are feeling better this morning: have you watered the plants? It’s time you had another one really, isn’t it. I’ll see what I can find. Meantime, aren’t the leaves on the trees beautiful? Or rather off the trees, for they’re on the pavements mostly. You will
see a lot of them from your window.
I think of you all the time, dear creature, and hope you are enjoying your rest.
Much love,
Philip
27 December 1972
32 Pearson Park, Hull
My very dear old creature,
Well, I am back in Hull again, where it is very fine and mild. I rose early at York Road this morning & was away by about 9.15, bearing certain provisions I hadn’t managed to eat – and leaving others in the dustbin!
It was so nice seeing you for Christmas, & I hope you enjoyed your outing to Kitty’s for lunch & tea. It was lovely to see your smiling face over the plates & to think you were having a good meal for once. […]
My dear creature, I hope you don’t feel too wobbly – take care. I know it’s difficult. Keep your watch wound up. You are a lovely creature & we all love you. Kitty will come on Saturday. Hope the new slippers are being successful!
Very much love – Philip
31 December 1972
1a Ratcliffe Road, Haydon Bridge, Hexham, Northumberland
My very dear old creature,
Here I am up in Monica’s village. It was a trying drive up, yesterday: quite thick fog from Hull to beyond Scotch Corner, and cold too. I stopped at Thirsk to eat sandwiches and have a drink, but it was hard going. Then, beyond Scotch Corner, the fog lifted and the weather became mild. It was like spring at Barnard Castle. I got here about a quarter to five.
It’s Sunday morning, & I’ve rung up Kitty to see how she is and how you are. She says you are not too bad! I hope the upsets of Christmas have subsided.
Monica’s Christmas goose has been thrown out at last, & remains only as a part of a big bean casserole we had last night. Tonight we shall go to Allendale to see the New Year bonfire & procession. I have brought my duffel coat & wool hat, as last year I was afraid of the sparks burning my good overcoat.
Well, 1972 is nearly gone – not a very nice year. Let’s hope 1973 will be better. Dear old creature, I hope you are walking better & are able to sit with the others. You ought to talk to people occasionally – we get melancholy-mad otherwise.
Much, much love
Philip
1973
5 January 1973
32 Pearson Park, Hull
My very dear old creature,
The days get progressively mistier, & so do I! Monica’s company is very nice, but it does lead to a lot of drinking, & I feel rather low of a morning. When I came in this morning I just sat in an armchair for an hour!
I shall be seeing you on Saturday – the day you get this – and Kitty says she is arranging a tea for you. That will be nice! I hope the day is mild, like this one.
I see Princess Anne has a suspected boy friend – I hope he likes horses!1
Much love, old creature,
Philip
1 Princess Anne was to marry Lieutenant Mark Phillips of the 1st Queen’s Dragoon Guards, at Westminster Abbey on Wednesday 14 November 1973.
31 January 1973
32 Pearson Park, Hull
My very dear old creature,
Another fine day, and another nice letter from you! I’m so glad you have found your stick. Certainly 10/- (50p.) would be enough for the benefactor who found it.
I’m so sorry your glasses keep slipping. Perhaps Kitty could take them and get them altered at an optician’s. They bend the earpieces in a little, to grip tighter. The other stick is yours too. I carved the ‘L’ on it, for Larkin. Not ‘L’ for Learner!
There isn’t a lot of news here. I am enquiring about some houses that are being built not far from Pearson Park, to see if they would suit me, but no information has arrived so far. I really can’t stay in my flat for ever – it’s only for as long as I work for the University!
However, the houses are a long way from being built – it is just a sea of mud at present.
I’m glad you like Monica’s card, but they are Siamese cats, not foxes!! She is a bit better, as I think I said. Love as always,
Philip
1 March 1973
32 Pearson Park, Hull
My very dear old creature,
A rainy-looking day here, but still mild – so the heater I bought yesterday for my bedroom hasn’t been used yet. Mrs Oates tells me that my lavatory brush is on its last legs and will have to be replaced! I dare say: everything is so old. Suddenly one finds things are 12 or 15 years old, that one thinks of as new!
I am heavier today, though I’ve been ‘off my peck’ generally this week. The rather dull rota of eggs, bacon, eggs in the evenings has come to pall, though I always eat my lunch hungrily enough!
Perhaps I should go more for meat. Yet it’s rather difficult to buy – butchers seem to close earlier than other shops.
How I remember our trips to Bausons [?] and Palmers in the old days! The sawdust & the barrel of offal (not too nice!)!
Much love, old creature,
Philip
1 March 19731
32 Pearson Park, Hull
My very dear old creature,
What a nice letter from you waiting for me when I got in this evening! I’m glad to hear you can be really warm in the lounge.2 The weather is so changeable these days.
This is really only a note to say I hope to come & see you on Saturday – the day you get this – & we can have a good chat.
Take care of yourself!
Much love
Philip
1 Written on the same day as the last.
2 Philip kept up the residual dialogue. On 28 February Eva had written: ‘It is a lovely sunny morning. It began with frost and fog and gradually these faded away but there are no flowers. I think it must be cold outside for there are no people walking about. Perhaps they are all resting for every where is very quiet. I have just peeped out of my door and saw the back view of a lady walking slowly down the corridor. I have made a journey next down into the lounge where it is very warm too warm, in fact so I came back. I feel rather “shivery” so have put on my thick cardigan. There is a lot of traffic along the road where Kitty waits for me sometimes. / I think they are making cups of tea in the corridor. Yes, here is a cup of tea.’
17 April 1973
as from Hull Tuesday
My very dear old creature,
In fact I’m in London – up for the day, to have lunch with another publisher. I got the 6.45 a.m. train, wch meant setting the alarm for 5.30 a.m., and that meant I actually awoke at 3.45 a.m. – I’m so nervous of alarms. However, here I am, & came early to do a little shopping – a pair of opal earclips for Monica’s birthday – rather a special present, to commemorate the Oxford book. And a dish mop for me! I had an awful experience last night: I put two mops and a dish cloth to boil – and forgot them!! About three hours later I was roused by a smell of burning –
Everything ruined, of course!! Oh dear! So I had to replace them, before I can do any more washing up.
Shall be back this evening. I do hope you are feeling better. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you found your spectacles! Never mind. Kitty is getting another pair.
Very much love,
Philip
27 April 1973
32 Pearson Park, Hull
Friday
My very dear old creature,
The lunch yesterday was rather a strain1 – you will see on p.18 of the Telegraph today that several tactless things were said. I was really hardly conscious of what was going on – what with being introduced to people, and photographed, & having to present people with prizes, & then introduce speakers, and propose the health of the Queen, and sign copies of the book afterwards. Your poor creature felt very ‘mithered’. Kingsley and Monica were there – I enclose a plan of the ‘top table’.2 Afterwards we went to the Oxford University Press and drank through the remainder of the sunny afternoon. I returned late at night a very worn creature.
M. looked lovely in a big black hat with artificial roses on it, a black suit & white frilled blouse with ruffled cuffs. She does
do herself up well! She wore the opal earclips I bought for her birthday, although it isn’t till May 7th.
Much love
Philip
1 Foyles literary luncheon, ‘to mark the publication of The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse’, held at The Dorchester, Park Lane, London W.1., 26 April 1973.
2 The list of attendees is enclosed with the plan of the ‘top table’. Larkin was flanked to his immediate right by Miss Margaret Rawlings, Mr Kingsley Amis and Mr John Lehmann, OBE, FRSL, and on his immediate left by Sir Ralph Richardson and Lord Snow, CBE.
13 May 1973
32 Pearson Park, Hull
My very dear old creature,
What a gloomy day – wet, into the bargain, but not cold or windy. And the trees look so beautiful now, when the new leaves are just out. I wish I could hear the birds – I’m sure they are singing a lot these days, but too high for me to hear them. […]
Much, much love, Philip
30 May 1973
32 Pearson Park, Hull
My very dear old creature,
Just a quick line, as this is committee day & I’ve not long to get this into the post. Isn’t it exciting about Princess Anne?1 I heard it on the car radio when I was driving home after work yesterday. It makes me very glad I’m not Poet Laureate. I shouldn’t like to have to produce a poem. Will Betjeman, I wonder?2