Love Songs in Age

This poem is different to the majority of Larkin's main poems. The title itself holds an idea that music holds memories from different periods of our life and that for the majority of people it can relate.

The women in this poem is a musician and writes music. The fact she kept her songs show that they meant something to her. Each piece of music represents her memories and the fact each are marked with a significant feature (happiness, children) may symbolise a happy lifestyle  The "sunny space" and the fact she "mended" show she fixed it, as is shows value to her.
She has a sense of being lonely because she is "widowed" and a loss of youth as a "sense of being young" and that rediscovering her music has blossomed her young life again. Also she seems keen on her future and the "certainty of time laid up in store" and what her future holds. In the third stanza Larkin uses the word "glare" to show how blinding or hurtful love can be and that to put music back is so hard to cry without "admitting how it had not done so then, and could not now." The fact she cant face the truth and that 'love' couldn't make her happy.
In line 7, Larkin uses personification of "they had waited" the idea of her music notes and papers waiting isn't realistic. Larkin's reference to young is used quite often. "sense of being young" and "time laid up in store" both suggest the loss of youth and the full promise youth brings yet the change and regret you have to face but in doing so, you can't relive the past, can't be young anymore. Over time your love changes and may cause you disappointment.