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The Whitsun Weddings - August 2001
Chosen by Anthony Thwaite
This is one of the three or four really spacious, almost symphonic Larkin poems, alongside 'Church Going', 'The Building', and 'Aubade'. One of the reasons why I have a special affection for it is that I was responsible for giving it its first public airing. I was at the time a BBC radio producer, in March 1959, and I had written to Larkin (whom I first met in July 1958) asking whether he had a new unpublished poem I could use in a Third Programme 'New Poetry' broadcast. Larkin sent 'The Whitsun Weddings', and on 17 March 1959 followed it with a letter (see Selected Letters) suggesting how he would like it read. The 'New Poetry' containing the poem was first broadcast on 5 April. It then appeared in the June 1959 issue of Encounter.
- Anthony Thwaite
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