Cut Grass
Philip Larkin
Jason and Jack
Cut Grass- Philip Larken
Cut grass lies frail:
Brief is the breath
Mown stalks exhale.
Long, long the death
It dies in the white hours
Of young-leafed June
With chestnut flowers,
With hedges snowlike strewn
White lilac bowed,
Lost lanes of Queen Anne’s lace,
And that high-builded cloud
Moving at summer’s pace
Implied meaning of TitleCut Grass
 From
the title, metaphorically we can
deduce that the “Grass” is symbolic of life,
whereas the word “Cut” connotes death.
 By putting the words together the simple
act of mowing the lawn or cutting the
grass is used as a metaphor and
extended within the poem to emphasis
the fragility of life.
Stanza 1
Cut grass lies frail:
Brief is the breath
Mown stalks exhale.
Long, long the death



This stanza talks about death
using grass a metaphor to
substitute human life. The first
line is a statement because it
ends with a semicolon. The
next three lines are descriptions
in relation to the statement, as
the semicolon is used to
indicate the descriptions.
Stanza One, tells readers that,
human life is fragile. “Brief is the
breath” means that, human
existence is too brief to live in
fear of death. “Mown stalks the
exhale.”
indicates
that
metaphorically, similar to the
way humans die, the grass
breathes its last long breath.
The use of enjambment has
been induced to emphasize
the words; breath and death.
Stanza 2

It dies in the white hours
Of young-leafed June

With chestnut flowers,
With hedges snowlike strewn

The first line has evidence of
personification induced. “It
dies in the white hours” the
word “It” is being referred to
the grass and “dies” is the
human trait given.
“white hours” and “youngleafed June” metaphorically
refers to the specific time
period of prosperity of life and
nature.
From this stanza we can infer
that, death incurs even during
the days of vibrancy of life and
nature.
Stanza 3

White lilac bowed,
Lost lanes of Queen Anne’s lace,
And that high-builded cloud
Moving at summer’s pace



Personification is incorporated in the first
line. “White lilac bowed” the white lilac
has been given a human attribute. The
act of the lilac bowing is used as a
metaphor to emphasize death.
“Lost lanes of Queen Anne’s lace,” is
used to represent death. “Queen Anne’s
lace,” is a type of flower, it’s been used
as a metaphor along with “Lost lanes” to
exemplify death.
Larkin used enjambment on the last two
lines to create a kind of deadening to
the ear and brain, as the thought can
end up being the same in length.
Enjambment is one way of creating
audible interest. It’s also used to
emphasize on the last two words to
create a lingering effect of the thought
to the brain.
From the last two lines, we can deduce
that it means; life goes on, death is an
ordinary thing of which nature takes no
notice.
Summary of Theme



In this poignant and concise poem, death is presented in nature
through the “Cut Grass” title, and the poem acts as a meditation
on death and its role on life.
The poem begins with the reference to the death of the “Cut
Grass”, which ironically happens in June; a time of vibrancy and life
in nature. This seems to suggest the way in which death can occur
at any moment, and even at a time when everything else is fully
alive, death can surprise us. Yet equally, death is not viewed in a
solely negative fashion. The reference to three types of flowers
seem to present that death is just part of a cycle of life, and has its
own beauty. That death is part of a cycle is likewise reinforced by
the movement of the clouds at the end of the poem.
The final lines of the poem seem to suggest that life will carry on,
and that nature and existence is not stopped by death. This
contributes to a somewhat hopeful tone at the end of this poem. It
does recognize the essential part of life that death occupies, but it
also puts this in its wider context; that of a cycle of life and death
that carries on and outlives our brief lives.
End…