CHURCH GOING (poem) [ Philip Larkin ]

“Church Going” is one of the best of Philip Larkin’s poems. The title itself is
puzzling. It gives us two different meanings. One meaning is that it is a regular
visit to a church. The other shows the decline of the institution because people
lost faith in God and religion. His greatest virtues are clarity and close
observation of social life, perfect control over feeling and tone. The language
is always simple and lucid and the idiom has great variety. Through his poetry
Larkin advises us not to be deceived by illusions or ideals. He asks us to have
a better awareness of man’s weaknesses. Larkin is called a sceptic poet. He
enters the church as a sceptic who does not have any faith in the church. But
he slowly realizes the truth that church fulfils a deeply felt human need and
that it is “a serious house on a serious earth it is”.

Making sure that nothing is going on inside, the speaker of the poem enters
the church and closes the door behind him. He finds that it is just like any
other church. He also notices the furniture, furnishings such as the plate, the
pyx, prayer books, the Bible, flowers cut for Sunday holy Mass, matting, seats,
the baptismal font and the organ. There are no worshippers in the church and
the silence tensed him. He looks around him with contempt and he feels a bad
smell when he stands staring at the altar where the church services are
conducted. Having observed these details, the speaker takes off his cycle-clips
in an act of mock-reverence. He did not wear a hat.

The speaker then moves forward and touches the baptismal font with his
hands. He notices that the roof looks almost new but he does not know
whether it has been cleaned or restored because he is not a regular church-
goer. Then he mounts the lectern and began to read out a few verses from the
Bible. After that he comes back to the door and signs the visitor’s book
and donates an Irish six pence which has no value in England. Thus all his
activities and manners inside the church show that he is a sceptic who has no
faith in the church service. Finally he thinks that his time is wasted, because
the place is not worth visiting at all.

But the speaker could not avoid the church. Over and again he visited the
church and each time his skeptical attitude grew less and less. This time he
stood inside the churching thinking about its future. As science and
technology began to develop, people lost faith in the institution of church. In
future, churches will become empty and completely out of use. A few
 cathedrals may be preserved as museums for future generation because of its
great art and architectural value. Their parchment, the plate and the pyx may
be kept in locked cases. But other church buildings will become sheltering
centers for sheep and other animals and poor people during rainy time.
Sometime people may avoid such places as unlucky because of its graveyard.
The speaker of the poem thinks that perhaps the church will become the
centre of superstitions in the coming years. But if faith disappeared, naturally
superstition will also be disappeared because both are connected with each
other. Finally the church buildings will tumble down and only its concrete
pillars would be standing as silent witness of the past glory of the church. The
church path will be over grown with grass, weeds and creepers. It will become
a deserted place. In course of time future generation will forget even the shape
of the churches.

Now the speaker of the poem reflects who will be the last person to visit the
church for its purpose. It may be a lover of antiquity who is eager to see very
old things or some Christmas-addict who visits church only on important
occasions such as the Easter or Christmas and he wants to enjoy the smell of
myrrh burnt, the flowers, the choir music, the dress worn by the choir and the
priest and the music of the organ.

Finally the speaker realizes that the church is a serious house on a

serious earth. A church is a symbol of man’s sincere search for the ultimate
meaning of life. Science and technology cannot solve his spiritual needs. That
is why the speaker himself comes to the church again and again when he is
tired of the problems of life. A church is equipped with baptismal fond,
flowers and the graveyard where “all human glories are buried” with his
bones. Thus the ceremonies of most important events in man’s life such
as birth, marriage and death are conducted in the church. In this sense we can
say that this is a religious poem. Thus the first meaning of the title “Church
Going” is affirmed. The poem underlines the truth that the power and the
glory of God cannot be destroyed by the advancement of science and
technology. On the other hand the church will continue to be the centre
focusing universal love and peace and giving spiritual solace to man’s
problems and sufferings in his life.
Annotate the following
1) Back at the door
I sign the book, donate an Irish sixpence,
Reflect the place as not worth stopping for
2) But superstition, like belief, must die,
And what remains when disbelief has gone?
3) For, though I’ve no idea
What this accountred frowsty barn is worth,
It pleases me to stand in silence here.
4) A serious house on serious earth it is,
In whose blent air all our compulsions meet,
Are recognized, and robed as destinies
Paragraph questions
1) Larkin’s description of the church
2) Larkin’s views on the function of religion
Essay: Write an essay on Larkin’s fears and hopes about the future of the
church.

Critical Analysis of “Church Going”:

Many readers and critics have misinterpreted it as a religious poem but
Philip Larkin has denied this interpretation. Though the poem is about
churches yet it is not a religious poem, says Philip Larkin. According to him,
it is a pure secular poem, in which no specific sect or religion has been
criticized; instead, he just talks about the future of churches. He just gives
his opinions. He also depicts the future of people with respect to religion and
superstition beliefs. World war left impact on many prudent minds. Religion
was fading because their prayers were not being answered.

Philip Larkin about “Church Going” said:-

“It is of course an entirely secular poem. I was a bit irritated by an American

who insisted to me it was a religious poem. It isn’t religious at all. Religion
surely means that the affairs of this world are under divine supervenience,
and so on, and I go to some pains to point out that I don’t bother about that
kind of thing, that I am deliberately ignorant of it.”

Philip Larking
It should be kept in mind that the poem is not religious at all. However,
critics (whom Philip Larkin calls irrational) do not agree with remarks of the
poet. They believe that somehow, religion is involved. Church is directly
proportional to religion, therefore, either intentionally or unintentionally
religion has been linked.

Stanzas-I & II Critical Analysis of Church Going:

Speaker is the poet himself, who tells his incident. He said that he, after
ensuring that no ritual ceremony was going on in the church, visited it. He
entered and “thud shut” the door. He describes the scenery of church while
illustrating that there were some books, flowers, which were kept on last
Sunday (now faded), matting floor and also an organ to produce music; it
was played during worship. The poet had no hat, therefore, he took off his
bicycle’s clip in order to show some respect. He gives further description
about church-building. He saw the church had been renovated and cleaned.
He read some verses from Bilble; when he finished, he shouted “Here
endeth”. In reply to his action, he heard some mocking sounds. Then he put
his signatures on the book, drop sixpences in charity box and exited. He did
not find his visit worth instead he called it wastage of precious time.

Attitude of the poet towards religion and church, in first two stanzas of the
poem, is worst. He had not mocked anyone but himself. Perhaps, it was the
first time, when he visited the church or he was confused. It seemed that he
had no etiquette. He thud shut the door. He did not pray with a strong belief;
rather he examined the church like a tourist. At the end, he realized that his
visit was worthless.

Philip Larkin is representative of his era. People in those days were fed up
from religion. Due to chaos, people could not find peace in it. In fact, their
beliefs on religion were fading day by day. The poet is not only telling his
own story but the story of every person, belonging to his age. He has no
faith on religion. He does not consider church a useful place, It is just a
building for him like other buildings of his city. There is no peace for him in
it. Larkin said that the poem was not a religious poem but secular. Be that
as it may, it reveals the downfall of religion.

Stanzas-III & IV Critical Analysis of Church Going:

Every time the poet visits the church, he feels that it is wastage of time. He
goes in the church with enthusiasm but returns hopeless. He finds every
visit useless. The poet also depicts the future of churches, which is gloomy.
He is sure that one day people will stop visiting the churches; buildings will
be converted to museums and things will be kept in locked-boxes so that
people can see them. People will consider churches as unlucky places.
Superstition beliefs will reborn with the downfall of religion. There is another
possibility that women would come to churches in order to find cure for their
children. They would get amulets for treatment of their children. It is also
possible, says poet, that people would find souls of deads in the churches.
But eventually superstition beliefs will also come to an end. What will
happen next?

In these stanzas, downfall of religion has been shown. A very sad future has
been prophesied by the poet. He does not consider religion everlasting. It is
temporary for him. The poet has not criticized God nor the people but the
purpose of going to churches. If religion fades, superstition beliefs will
become stronger. Church-buildings will become relics or museums. People
will come and see holy objects. Religion and superstition beliefs are
interlinked with each other. Where there is religion there must be
superstition beliefs. From secular point of view, this poem is not an attack
on religion; rather it satirizes the superstition beliefs. It indicates the
weaknesses of people. After end of religion there come the superstition
beliefs but what after it?

The poem is also about the change. Rarely, any person shows consistency
to religion or superstition beliefs. Both these things are switched by people
according to their needs. If there is no peace in hearts of the people then
how can religion give them peace? From Secular point of view, the poem is
not about religion but about people. Alfred Alvarez argues on the poem and
says:-

“Church Going presents in concentrated form an image of the post-war

Welfare State Englishman….. It is the image of a shabby Englishman who is
not concerned with his appearance but who is poor, having a bike not a car,
who is gauche (or clumsy) but full of agnostic piety; who is under-fed, under-
paid, over-taxed, hopeless, bored and wry. ”

Alfred Alvarez on Critical Analysis of Church Going

It is right that from secular point of view, chaos is reflected in the hearts of
people, therefore, they are hopeless. Hope is necessary to find peace in
religion which lacks in this case.

Stanzas V, VI & VII Critical Analysis of Church Going:

Last three stanzas of the poem depict the horrible condition of churches.
With the passage of time churches will no longer be recognized due to
growth of grass and plants. People will never know about these buildings.
They, like poet, will wonder about them. The will never know what purpose
they serve. The poet also wonders who will be the last visitor, whether he
will be an antiquarian or a worshiper. There is possibility that churches
would be used for the purpose of ritual ceremonies such as marriage and
death. Buildings will remain intact but they will not serve any serious
purpose. In last stanza of the poem, Larkin gives hope to the readers. He
says that whenever people will come in these dead buildings they will
wonder about their purposes but soon will realize that they are religious
places, therefore, spiritual essence of churches would never be ignored nor
forgotten. People would think that a visit to church would make them wise
as dead bodies are buried there.

The poet is purely secular. In these lines, definitely he has exaggerated the
future of churches. He has shown nature as the supreme commander of
everything. Plants, trees and grass will hide the churches; people will come
only for ritual ceremonies viz. marriage and death. The poet still has hope;
he ends the poem while saying that spiritual importance of churches can
never be forgotten nor can it be underestimated. He has not shown any
disrespect to religion. He has revealed his innersole. He writes what he
feels.

There may be many meanings of the poem. It is also possible that the poet
is criticizing people; they go to churches so that their destinies can be
changed. They should struggle instead of just praying. Visiting church twice
a day does not give anyone success but hard work gives them the same.
When people go to church time and again and they do not find anything
they give up on their prayers. They should know that God helps those who
help themselves. Only prayer is not enough, struggle and hard work is also
necessary.

It is also possible that after world war people became hopeless; there was
neither charm nor peace in their lives, therefore, they did not find churches
helpful. The poet may be a frustrated hopeless person who is not expecting
any good future.

So far as artistic qualities of the poet are concerned, this poem is a

masterpiece. Like some other poems of Philip Larkin, this poem is also a
dramatic monologue. It is full of symbols. A lot of symbols can be found in it.
Images are also there. Meanings of the poem depend on minds of readers.
For example, some consider it a religious poem, whereas remaining
secular. In short, the poem is finest piece of literature.