The Role Of Perspective In Larkin's This Be The Verse

The role that perspective plays in influencing one’s fate
The poem “The Sun Rising” by John Donne and the poem “This Be The Verse” by Philip Larkin are both literary texts that address the capability of man over controlling the forces that shape his life, in essence his ability to control his fate. The speaker of each poem however expresses a radically different opinion as to the extent one can influence the happenings of the world around him. In the “Sun Rising” the speaker states that the power to control his surroundings rests solely with him whereas in “This Be The Verse” the speaker claims that he has no control over his fate and that all that occurs is predetermined. In closer inspection however, it can be seen that the speaker in “The Sun Rising” does not actually have the ability to control the world around him but that he is actively choosing to believe that he can and there lies the essential difference between the two poems. In “This Be The Verse” the speaker completely disregards one’s ability to confront the limitations of his power with a positive …show more content…
Outwardly Donne’s poem centers around the individual’s ability to control his surroundings and thus influence his fate, whereas Larkin’s poem centers around man’s inability to change the route his life is going to take, since the legacy of those that came before him is too great to overcome. But on closer inspection it can be seen that the speaker’s positive view on his ability to control his fate in Donne’s “The Sun Rising” is not about the subject’s actual power in relation to the outcome of his life, but it is instead about the mindset he adopts concerning things that he cannot change. He cannot stop the sun from shining, but he chooses to believe that the sun shines for his benefit; therefore his outlook on life ,his way of viewing the limitations placed on him is what actually grants him the illusion that he can somehow direct his