Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Philip Larkin's "Wedding-Wind" captures the turbulence and transformation that accompany the threshold of married life. Through the powerful metaphor of the wind, Larkin explores themes of joy, change, and the inevitable intertwining of personal and natural forces.

The poem opens with the wind as a dominant force on the speaker's wedding day: "The wind blew all my wedding-day, / And my wedding-night was the night of the high wind." This establishes a backdrop of uncontrollable natural energy, symbolizing the overwhelming emotions and new beginnings of marriage. The recurrent banging of a stable door that the husband must attend to interrupts the speaker's expectations of uninterrupted conjugal bliss: "That he must go and shut it, leaving me / Stupid in candlelight, hearing rain, / Seeing my face in the twisted candlestick, / Yet seeing nothing."

This scene captures a moment of solitude and introspection for the bride. The image of her face reflected in a "twisted candlestick" suggests a distorted self-perception, perhaps mirroring her uncertainty and the sudden shift from singlehood to marriage. The candlelight, typically associated with warmth and intimacy, instead illuminates her isolation. When her husband returns, mentioning the restlessness of the horses, the bride feels sadness that "any man or beast that night should lack / The happiness I had." This juxtaposition of personal joy against the backdrop of natural and domestic disruption introduces a complex emotional landscape.

In the second stanza, the speaker reflects on the aftermath of the wedding: "Now in the day / All’s ravelled under the sun by the wind’s blowing." The word "ravelled" suggests a sense of entanglement and complexity, as if the wind has woven itself into every aspect of her new life. Her husband has gone to look at the floods, a continuation of his attentiveness to external disturbances, while she carries out mundane tasks like bringing a chipped pail to the chicken-run. This domestic scene, set against the relentless wind, highlights the everyday realities that come with marriage.

The speaker’s thoughts turn philosophical as she contemplates the pervasive force of the wind: "All is the wind / Hunting through clouds and forests, thrashing / My apron and the hanging cloths on the line." The wind, once a mere weather condition, now seems to embody a deeper, almost spiritual force that influences her entire being. The phrase "bodying-forth by wind / Of joy my actions turn on, like a thread / Carrying beads" suggests that her joy is fragile and strung together by her daily actions, vulnerable to being scattered by the wind’s whims.

The poem concludes with the speaker pondering the endurance of her newfound joy and the disruptions that accompany it: "Shall I be let to sleep / Now this perpetual morning shares my bed? / Can even death dry up / These new delighted lakes, conclude / Our kneeling as cattle by all-generous waters?" The "perpetual morning" symbolizes the constant presence of this new phase in her life, suggesting that her joy and the accompanying challenges are now permanent fixtures. The reference to "kneeling as cattle by all-generous waters" evokes a sense of humility and gratitude, as if she and her husband are partaking in the bounties of life, despite the tumult.

In "Wedding-Wind," Larkin masterfully uses the wind as a metaphor for the uncontrollable and transformative forces that shape our lives. The poem's imagery and introspective tone capture the complexity of emotions experienced during significant life changes. Through the speaker’s reflections, Larkin explores how joy and disruption coexist, emphasizing the resilience required to navigate the intertwined forces of nature and personal growth.

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