Last Visit to 198 Cathedral Road

In the poem, the persona has visited an old flat – possibly one that he once lived in. It could still be owned by his parents. He creeps in at night to look around.

“When, like a burglar, I entered after dark” suggests that the persona shouldn’t be there and that the flat he is in doesn’t belong to him. “I don’t know why” is repeated which shows that the persona has done this without thinking. The persona sits in his “father’s armchair” which suggests that he could be doing so to feel an equal to his father or to relive his personality. The persona “suddenly” (showing that his actions are quick which reflects the reference of a “burglar”) shines his light around the room which shows that he shouldn’t be there because, to look around a room, usually turning on the light is what people do.

Humour is used in the second stanza to describe the living room. A contrast is used “living room … dying room”. There is a sense of death in this room – “so much dust”, “the awakened” and “a fright” which could suggest that the house is abandoned. The use of personification shows that the household objects are coming to life and they are unattractive – they “yawn hideously” and are “wriggling”.

 

Larkin uses a lot of personification in his poems to show the moods. He does it in ‘Home is so Sad’ to show grief of the house. This poem can also be linked to ‘Mr Bleaney’ which is about rooms and objects telling personas about the person and what their life was like. However, in Larkin’s poem (Mr Bleaney), Larkin seems to be judgemental of Mr Bleaney. Abse, however, accepts those who live there and enjoys looking around to see what else the room can tell him about his parents.