The Explosion


On the day of the explosion
Shadows pointed towards the pithead:
In thesun the slagheap slept.

Down the lane came men in pitboots
Coughing oath-edged talk and pipe-smoke
Shouldering off the freshened silence.

One chased after rabbits; lost them;
Came back with a nest of lark's eggs;
Showed them; lodged them in the grasses.

So they passed in beards and moleskins
Fathers brothers nicknames laughter
Through the tall gates standing open.

At noon there came a tremor; cows
Stopped chewing for a second; sun
Scarfed as in a heat-haze dimmed.

The dead go on before us they
Are sitting in God's house in comfort
We shall see them face to face--

plian as lettering in the chapels
It was said and for a second
Wives saw men of the explosion

Larger than in life they managed--
Gold as on a coin or walking
Somehow from the sun towards them

One showing the eggs unbroken.

                                                 -by Philip Larkin

A Pithead: The top of a mine shaft with buildings and hoisting gear nestled around it.

Slagheap: A man made mound or heap formed with waste material (slag) as a by-product of coal minging.

                                                                      Lark Egg

 The first four stanza's initially make me think of apocalyptic events. The first line of stanza three and the slight mention of lark eggs make me think of food. Why would he be chasing rabbits after explosions? Food. "Through the tall gates standing open..." This brings an image of the golden gates of heaven. The mention of the heavenly gates once again back up my theory of an apocalyptic event. Tremors are then talked about and talk of meeting God face to face and how that meeting is as set as the lettering in the chapels.

From the first read it seems as if an apocalyptic event is taking place and fate is being discussed. I did realize that I did not know the exact definition of a hand full of words in this poem. Upon looking them up I discovered the poem is about a mine explosion and the wives waiting to see their husbands through their moleskin's. God and fate is being discussed over the minors and whether more explosions are going to occur and who is all in danger.

The significance of the lark eggs is difficult for me to understand. The last one lined stanza of the poem is dedicated to the safety of the lark eggs. If the eggs aren't broken than the safety of the men is assured? That is my best guess.