Philip Larkin’s Poem Church Going Essay -- Philip Larkin Church Going

Philip Larkins song Church GoingWhen it comes to religion, we can choose either to believe or non to believe. Some have faith in a lordly being, and week after week, dev proscribedly cram into the church of their choice and retell their prayers. In contrast, there be nonbelievers. They see religion as an splinter from genuineity-- a false hope that after living a yen and difficult sprightliness, an omniscient, unconditionally loving deity will welcome them into an never-ending existence.In Philip Larkins poem, Church Going, the speaker is also a nonbeliever. just whether his lack of faith is in a supreme being is not evident. Rather, his agnosticism is more than the result of his displeasure with declining religion. As he walks by dint of the church, unhappy with his surroundings, a tone of disappointment and disbelief becomes apparent.The first stanza introduces us to the speaker as someone who is in church more out of curiosity than religious fervor. He enters only whe n he is sure theres nothing going on, which immediately distinguishes him from other people who go to church. He isnt a loyal parishioner eager to attend mass. Instead, he wants to enter alone, when he is positive that he will not learn a priest or believer.We are not sure what real reason the speaker has for entering the church, especially since he does so when service are not in progress. But we do get the photo that being there does not make him happy. He seems bored to be in just another church, as shown by the dull definition he gives of his environment. The matting, seats, and stone nearly people might find beautiful, are reduced to an unexciting list. His reference to the furnishings upon the altar as brass and mash at the holy end clearly shows t... ... that, at one time, the sacraments of life were all connected to this one place. He acknowledges the church as a serious house that will never lose its real use because someone like him will always come to it. His remo te, indifferent berth as a spectator vanishes here, and turns into a deeper way of thinking which is more universal and philosophical. His original boredom and disappointment no longer fits his temper because he has discovered what attracts him to church.The disappointed, unenthusiastic tone is prevalent through most of the poem. The church simply does not live up to the speakers expectations, and he feels uncomfortable in the silence. And although he occasionally has fleeting feelings of mucilaginous reverence, it is not until the end of the poem that he realizes not only the usance of the church, but his own reason for being there.