THE EXPLOSION
Philip Larkin
The Explosion by Philip Larkin
This poem describes a tragic accident, an
explosion in a coal mine in which a group of
miners lost their lives. At the exact moment of
the accident the wives of the dying men had
a vision. At that moment, their husbands
appeared clearly in front of them, as well as
certain words from the Bible.
The miners
The miners are heading to work in the coal pit,
wearing work boots and overalls.
 This is a typical group of working men. They
smoke pipes and their conversation is marked
by swearing and bad language.
 Larkin says their language is ‘oath-edged’.
 They laugh and joke as they walk to work
together.

An air of menace
To the miners, this is just another day. They are
unaware of the deadly explosion that will soon
kill them.
 However, there is an air of menace that hints at
the destruction to come.
 There is something sinister about the shadows
pointing towards the mine.
 ‘Shadows pointed toward the pithead’.

An air of menace
It is as if the shadows are pointing the workers
towards their deaths.
 The entrance to the coal pit in the poem brings
to mind the gates of hell.
 Hell has often been referred to as ‘the pit’.
 There is a sense in the poem that the workers
are descending to a place of doom and
darkness.

The explosion occurs
The tremor from the explosion is felt in the nearby
fields, startling the cows.
 A cloud of dust is blown out of the mine and causes
the sun’s light to become dim and blurred, as in a
‘heat-haze’.
 Larkin doesn’t describe the explosion in the mine
directly. He doesn’t describe the agony of the men
struggling for their lives underground.
 The chaos and horror of the mine is left to our
imaginations.

The vision
At the moment of the accident, the wives of the
dying men have a vision. Even though they
were not all together, afterwards each claimed
to have had a similar vision.
 Firstly, a passage from the Bible appeared
before them. It claims that after we die we
travel to God’s house, where we will be
reunited with the friends and relatives that
have passed before us.

The vision
Then the wives had visions of their husbands:
‘for a second/ Wives saw men of the explosion’.
 In this vision the men seem larger than life and
ablaze with a golden light: ‘Gold as a coin’.
 In one vision, a miner is carrying the lark’s eggs
that were discovered in the way to work that
morning: ‘One showing the eggs unbroken’.

What is this poem about?
Life after death
This poem suggests that death is not the end.
This is suggested by the wives’ vision of the men
at the time of the accident.
They see words of hope from the bible and
their husbands appear to them almost like
angels.
The eggs held by one of the miners are a
symbol of life after death.
What is this poem about?
Life after death
 Eggs are associated with birth and new life.
The lark eggs have been unbroken by the
tremors that shook the fields.
 Similarly, our lives will be unbroken by death.
Even after we live this life, we will continue to
exist in God’s house.
What is this poem about?
A social commentary
It is also possible to read the poem as a social
commentary on the conditions of mine workers.
 Every day, they must walk into the hellish mouth of
the pit.
 The are described as ‘Coughing’ as they walk,
indicating the damage done to their lungs.
 The daily danger of their lives is clear when the
explosion takes place.
What is this poem about?
A social commentary
 Tragically, it is only in death that the men’s difficult
lives are transformed.
 In death, they are ‘Gold as a coin’, whereas in life
they were permanently blackened by the mine.
 It is only in death that the miners rise up and
transform themselves, to become ‘Larger than in life
they managed’.
Questions
1.
2.
3.
Why do you think Larkin does not describe
the actual explosion? Do you think his indirect
portrayal of the explosion works well?
What view of death and life after death is
put forward in this poem?
The Explosion is considered one of Larkin’s
most moving poems. Describe your response
to the poem.