The poem
Come to Sunny Prestatyn Laughed the girl on the poster, Kneeling up on the sand In tautened white satin. Behind her, a hunk of coast, a Hotel with palms Seemed to expand from her thighs and Spread breast-lifting arms.
She was slapped up one day in March. A couple of weeks, and her face Was snaggle-toothed and boss-eyed; Huge tits and a fissured crotch Were scored well in, and the space Between her legs held scrawls That set her fairly astride A tuberous cock and balls
Autographed Titch Thomas, while Someone had used a knife Or something to stab right through The moustached lips of her smile. She was too good for this life. Very soon, a great transverse tear Left only a hand and some blue. Now Fight Cancer is there.
This poem is good, emily is stupid and eats poo
Emily Webb spies on girls fannies
Having been through Prestatyn on a train (it's so Larkin it bleeds!) I can tell you that the disappointing truth is that there are no palm trees and it wasn't sunny. In fact it was positively wet. But that is the whole point. The reality is never as good as the advertising people make out. And those who strive for this perfection get 'snaggle-toothed and boss-eyed'. These compound words (stick that in your essay!)…
Read the whole commentHaving been through Prestatyn on a train (it's so Larkin it bleeds!) I can tell you that the disappointing truth is that there are no palm trees and it wasn't sunny. In fact it was positively wet.
But that is the whole point. The reality is never as good as the advertising people make out. And those who strive for this perfection get 'snaggle-toothed and boss-eyed'. These compound words (stick that in your essay!) make the stand out and makes the girl's predicament more obvious, linking back to her 'breast-lifting arms' which are the reason for her attack.
In one simple sentence Larkin shows the more likely outcome of an ordinary person's life: 'Now Fight Cancer is there.' most people will live an unglamorous life and die an unglamorous death.
Is the cancer meant in a literal sense or is it a metaphor for the cancer in society that is the advertising industry? It's worth thinking about.
Pop trio Atomic Kitten will reform to play a concert in support of jailed Liverpool football fan Michael Shields...