First impressions and reactions to 'Here' by Larkin.

"Swerving east, from rich industrial shadows

And traffic all night north; swerving through fields"

These first two lines of the poem don't seem to grab my attention or trigger any thoughts or feelings as I just get the impression that 'Here' is going to be just like the beginning of 'The Whitsun Weddings'. The only thing that is portrayed is that it is yet another train journey and this time the movement is more violent and harsh. The fact that it is another journey, gives me the impression that travelling and seeing different surroundings was what was ordinary for Larkin and he enjoyed putting himself in a position where he was the observer of the things outside. For example, "the widening river's slow presence, the piled gold clouds, the shining gull-marked mud".

I think that 'Here' is a poem than is emphatic of the aspiration, hope, light and potential that Larkin is trying to portray through the man-made buildings and sights as well as potraying things in it's natural forms as he describes the country side. However, I still think of Larkin as a pessimistic person but a also an admiring poet that seems to see the good in everything bad such as death and loneliness.