Monday, April 19, 2010

School memories as a marker of passing years: a Philip Larkin poem

Philip Larkin's poem is a reminder that for students, teachers and parents alike memories of school days are an important marker of passing years.

The School in August


The cloakroom pegs are empty now,
And locked the classroom door,
The hollow desks are lined with dust,
and slow across the floor
A sunbeam creeps between the chairs
Till the sun shines no more.

Who did their hair before this glass?
Who scratched 'Elaine loves Jill'
One drowsy summer sewing-class
With scissors on the sill?
Who practised this piano
Whose notes are now so still?

Ah, notices taken down,
And scorebooks stowed away,
And seniors grow tomorrow
From the juniors today,
And even swimming groups can fade,
Games mistresses turn grey.

copyright
Philip Larkin

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