The Mower is a poem by British poet Philip Larkin, written on 12 June 1979.[1] It was first published in Humberside, the Hull Literary Club magazine, in Autumn 1979.

The poem describes a moment when the speaker accidentally killed a hedgehog with his lawn mower while mowing his lawn.

Author Maeve Brennan recalled an earlier incident in which Larkin had deliberately killed a hedgehog with his car, and his guilt about it. She linked that incident with the later poem.[2] Author Sisir Kumar Chatterjee writes that the poem embodies Larkin's themes of "mutual care, sympathy, and kindness."[3] Janice Rossen notes this is a recurring theme in his work, citing the similar suffering of a dying rabbit in "Myxomatosis," published in The Less Deceived.[4]

The archive of Philip Larkin's work at University of Hull includes the blue 'Victa' rotary lawn mower involved in the incident that inspired the poem.[5][6]

References

  1. ↑ Larkin, Philip (2004). Collected Poems. Edited by Anthony Thwaite. London: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, ISBN 978-0-374-52920-8
  2. ↑ Brennan, Maeve (2002). The Philip Larkin I Knew, p. 64. Manchester University Press, ISBN 978-0-7190-6276-6
  3. ↑ Chatterjee Sisir Kumar (2006). Philip Larkin: Poetry That Build Bridges. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, ISBN 978-81-269-0606-2
  4. ↑ Rossen, Janice (1989). Philip Larkin: His Life's Work. University of Iowa Press, ISBN 978-0-87745-271-3
  5. ↑ Laville, Sandra (11 May 2002). "Larkin's lawnmower cuts it as a relic". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  6. ↑ McDonald, Guy (2004). Cadogan Guide: England, p. 836. New Holland Publishers, ISBN 978-1-86011-116-7


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