'Last Visit to 198 Cathedral Road'.
Summary.
Last Visit to 198 Cathedral Road' is where Abse writes about re-visiting the place where his parents used to live before they passed away. I get the impression that that is what the poem is about because the place is dark dusty and silent and the only live thing in the "group-floor flat" is Abse's. In 'Last Visit to 198 Cathedral Road' Abse also becomes observant of the little details in the abandoned room,just like Larkin. At the end of the poem, Abse is left alone which seems to trigger more thoughts and memories of his parents.
Key themes and ideas.
A lot of the themes and ideas explored by Abse in 'Last Visit to 198 Cathedral Road' is very similar to the themes that Larkin uses in some of his poetry. One of the most obvious themes explored is the death of his parents in that one house. Abse describes the living room in the apartment as a dying room, rather" which depicts that his parents were unfortunate to both experience death in the same room and even so, Abse decides to not see it as a 'living' room anymore. Ironically, there is nothing else "living" in that one room that belongs there, so as well "living room" having its literal meaning as the main room of the house to some, the word "living" by itself shows ambiguity because it also means to be alive and living life. The fact that Abse now calls it the "Dying room" also shows that now that his parents are no longer around to look after the house, the house itself will continue to deteriorate and fade as it is lacking in love, care and attention. This is also very sinister because calling a room a "Dying room" paints a dark picture of the room being haunted and cold. It also makes me link this one room to the gas chambers in World War 2 which could also be seen as the "Dying room" of the Jews. This makes it even more sinister because the purpose of the "Dying room" for the Jews, was to purposefully kill them, however, I am not saying that his parents were in a gas chamber or were killed, but this is what makes it sinister and dark.
The theme of deterioration and loss is also explored in the 'Last Visit to 198 Cathedral Road' and it is mainly portrayed through the house. This is shown when Abse describes the "vase that yawned hideously". Here, Abse personifies the vase and the purpose of this is to increase the reader's interest in the poem, but also by providing human characteristics immediately encourages the reader to relate to the things being described. This evokes emotions within the reader such as concern or sympathy. The fact that Abse personifies the vase could have also been done to not make the room so seem lifeless after all. Abse also depicts the crumbling and "wriggling, photophobic crack in the ceiling" which adds to the theme of deterioration. However, if it was to be looked at into more depth, then it shows that the building is beginning to settle down and aging like Abse's parents were before their death. So a link can be made between the parents and the house as it could be said that the house is an embodiment of the parents as they put a lot of love and care into looking after the house, but of course, now that they are no longer around the house is giving up on itself and it will never find anyone else to look after it as well as they did. Abse then goes onto personifying the room "that was out of breath". Again, a link can be linked between the owners of the house as they were the heart and soul of that house and now that they are gone, the room has become empty and lifeless. The house could also be seen as grieving as well as Abse as the departure of the couple seems to have had a big impact on the house.
Furthermore, the house could also be seen as a reflecting Abse's true emotions behind the satire tone in stanza 2. In 'A Winter Visit', Abse states the he inhabits a "white coat not a black even here - and am not qualified to weep". Interestingly, these two poems by Larkin are linked in this way because in the 'Last Visit to 198 Cathedral Road' it seems as if Abse is trying to hide his true emotions as a doctor behind his white coat. In 'A Winter Visit' it was also discussed that Abse uses the coat to camouflage his feelings and this is exactly what the poet is trying to do in this poem. Instead of directly showing how he truly feels about the loss of his parents, Abse uses words such as "outraged", "empty", "hideously" and "dark" when describing the room he is in when actually, he could be discretely saying how he feels.
At the beginning of stanza 2, Abse is satire and mundane about when describing the living room and pretending to talk to his mother. Sarcastically, Abse says "Living room, did I say? Dying room, rather". This shows that Abse is correcting himself as he thought for a second that it was still a normal, family living room, when in fact it isn't anymore - it is now just a dark empty room with no meaning. Again, we see Abse being satire when he says "So much dust, mother!" Abse's speech here, almost seems comical as he pretends as if his mother was physically there but actually he is just talking to himself. Maybe that is something that Abse would have actually commented on to his mother as a joke which makes the poem more for Abse, but the fact that Abse is still imagining his mother still being there, shows that he is still grieving about his parent's death.
In stanzas 3, 4 and 5 we see Abse's desire for his parents to somehow return as he "sat sightless in the room that was out of breath and listened...to nothing". and so the theme of hope and love is also explored in contrast to the themes explored earlier in the poem. The fact that there isn't one "comforting, diminutive sound" shows that in fact, silence can be the loudest non sound. No voices, no birdsong, no noise from the creaking floors, no music and the sound of absolutely nothing appears to be very loud and disquieting in this poem. This implies that it is unsual for the room to be lifeless and soundless as before, it would've been filled with sounds of his father's music and his mothers comforting, soothing voice.
Links to Philip Larkin's poetry.
'Home Is So Sad'.
'Home Is So Sad' is one of the most obvious poems that illuminate qualities in the 'Last Visit to 198 Cathedral Road'. Similarly, Larkin also explores the theme of loss and emptiness by using the house as an embodiment of the impact that the mother's departure has had. It also conveys the idea of the home being where the heart is and so again, we see the life of the house being removed, leaving the home sad. We also see the persona grieving the death of his mother. However, there is a sense of hope within the persona when it says "It stays as it was left, Shaped to the comfort of the last to go, As if to win them back". This implies that they are yearning for the mother's return. We also see this one room in the house that sums up the person's existence as the it "stays as it was left".
'Reference Back'.
To some extent, 'Last Visit to 198 Cathedral Road' is illuminated by this Larkin poem because it philosophically talks about the concept of time and how "we're not suited to the long perspectives", simply meaning that we aren't meant to live for the rest of our lives.
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