MCMXIV

Analysis of MCMXIV by Philip Larkin

"Those long uneven lines/ Standing as patiently/ As if they were stretched outside/ The Oval or Villa Park"

People lining up to go war - a lot of the time in the trenches was spent waiting around bored. Cricket - game ground were common places of recruitment.

"Grinning as if it were all/ An August Bank Holiday lark"

Happy - unaware of what they're signing up to - propaganda giving false reality.

"And the shut shops, the bleached/ Established names on the sunblinds,/ The farthings and sovereigns/ And dark-clothed children at play"

Everything that is being left behind, peaceful last image of life before going to war.

"And the countryside not caring"

Nature doesn't care for men, the war is so different to what they're used to - countryside is supposed to be a peaceful safe place.

"Never such innocence,/ Never before or since"

The war had a lasting effect on England due to what it brought with it - first time weapons etc - but did this innocence we long for actually exist before the fall? Or do the war memorials create the idea of something that never existed in the first place?

"Without a word-- the men/ Leaving the gardens tidy"

 Trying to leave things in a nice way because they probably won't be coming back

"The thousands of marriages,/ Lasting a little while longer"

Getting married in desperation before going to war - they can die together.