The Whitsun Weddings

In this poem, Larkin is on  train journey, at first the train seems empty and quiet but as it enters more stations Larkin describes the scenes as newly wed couples get on the train heading to London for their honeymoons.
Larkin describes the girls as being different in 'lemons ,mauve, olive ochre's that marked the girls from the rest,' this idea gives us the sense Larkin is trying to be polite about the fact they don't look very nice. The colours he describes are colours that naturally you may not put together so, the girls would obviously stand out. The fathers are shown to have 'broad belts,' again Larkin is trying to cover his offensiveness of the quote in a politer manner. Perhaps showing he has more respect for males as he talks about the mother being 'loud and fat' suggesting he isn't too keen on this type of person.
From the beginning of the poem, Larkin's mood changes. It starts being calm as he states 'all sense
of being in a hurry gone,' and the warmth from a 'sunlit Saturday' is then ruined by the 'noise' and the idea the 'sun destroys' what Larkin is trying to see.

The significance of this poem is that Larkin isn't a part of the weddings, he can just see them from the carriage window. Giving a sense of isolation on his part and perhaps jealousy that he isn't a part of these celebration's as he seems to have a negative view toward the families weddings.

• Oxymoron- words that contradict each other- Larkin uses this term when describing the weddings as 'happy funerals.' The idea of an old life ending and a new happier life beginning.