‘Larkin’s poems often develop from careful observation of the familiar world to profound statements about life.’Discuss this statement with reference to two poems from “The Whitsun Weddings”

Larkin’s careful observations of the familiar world include many image-laden descriptions with a lot of evocative descriptive detail of the mundane, ordinary and recognisable, but then are built into much deeper and more profound statements about life itself. In this essay, I will be referring to the poems “Ambulances” and “Mr Bleaney” from the “Whitsun Weddings” anthology.
In the poem “Ambulances”, Larkin begins with two stanzas which are his observations of the ‘familiar world’ which in this case is the general reaction of people to the sight of an ambulance. In the first stanza, he describes the ambulance moving through traffic in a city, creating an image of intricate and swift movement with the use of words such as “…they thread”. Larkin also contrasts the closed, indifferent and almost isolated interior of the ambulance with the hustle and bustle of the city and the people outside. He begins the poem with the simile “Closed like confessionals”...