Question

What two things are compared in the poem?

Answer 1

It is difficult to judge whether the poet is trying to compare or is drawing a relation. Philip Larkin, in his poem Coming, celebrates the advent of the new season, spring, with the “fresh-peeled voice” of the thrush. He creates the imagery of the spring peeled out of the winter. The old season giving birth to the new season. Nature had been sleeping in the cold and gloomy winter and now the freshness of the new season sparked a new life in it. The birds, houses, gardens, the whole nature has joined the party to welcome the spring. Seeing this transformation the poet is so happy that he himself transcends into childhood.

Here Larkin highlights the difference between innocence and experience. He presents an innocent watching the adults, laughing and reconciling, probably after a fight or reconciling with life. How he begins to feel happy though he understands nothing. This is the innocence of the child that his happiness lies in others' happiness, which is juxtaposed with the experienced adults, who engage themselves in trivial issues creating troubles for themselves and others.

The poet has tried to bring out the difference between the two seasons and stages of human life. This mystique is beyond Larkin's comprehension and he is only left wondering about it all.