Ambulances

This poem is about the way an ambulance, a loud unavoidable vehicle, universally provokes more profound thoughts about life; in particular the inevitableness of death. Larkin, views as a bystander an ambulance,catching snippets of an unfortunate scene, a position relatable for the reader. He comments on this as well as looking at the way people react to it, and looking deeper into the meaning or what it going on. The constant looming presence of death is something that comes across strongly throughout this poem, and because of this Larkin's viewpoint could be argued to be both pessimistic and realistic, but either way the tone is somber. 

The poem is introduced with the phrase 'closed like confessionals', when talking about ambulances, connoting the fact that like 'confessionals' they are private and closed off, but something intimate and important is happening inside. As the stanza continues they 'thread loud noons of cities'. 'Thread' connotes to how ambulances hold people and society together, like a 'thread' would fabric, as well as linking to the way they travel in and out of traffic. Larkin's phrasing here also suggests ambulances go unnoticed in the 'loud...cities', particularly as they were previously described as 'confessionals' which denotes that they are not spoken about and quite. 'Noons' shows that it's a busy time of day, but also as it is between morning and evening it links to being in between life and death. This could hint that 'noon' is also an unnatural time to die, linking to the way lives end abruptly. The idea of being in between life and death is reiterated through their 'grey' colour which is in between black and white. The line 'giving back none of the glances they absorb could be a reference to the way the meaning behind an ambulance attracts attention, despite the fact it is just a machine. Alternatively it could link to the way they absorb life, they take people away inside of them but they don't bring them back. Towards the end of this stanza the tone begins to become more morbid, as Larkin says 'they come to rest at any kerb'. 'Rest' reinforces the idea of death, while 'any kerb' demonstrates the unpredictability of death, but despite this it happens to everyone as 'all streets in time are visited'. 

The next stanza contrasts life and death, with the first three lines describing simple everyday parts of life such as 'smells of different dinners', and the next three lines describing a 'white face' on a 'red stretcher' in a much more detached way to reinforce how quickly life can be taken from you, and the complete contrast between life and death. In the first line, children are described as 'strewn', which connotes death as well as demonstrating Larkin's view of the way children make a mess and are life objects. Larkin's critical view of people is continued as he judged 'women coming from the shops', which could be considered a very sexist example. The body is described as having a 'wild white face' the contrast between alliteration used in 'wild white' emphasizes the contrast between the two words, which could link to the difference between 'wild' life and 'white' death and how this person is in an area in the middle. Alternatively the 'wild' could connote the unpredictability of death, while 'white' demonstrates its universality and simplicity. There is also contrast between the 'white face' and 'red stretcher', with red connoting danger and pain, while 'white' connotes peace and purity. This could link to how death is considered both gory and painful, but also tied to peace. As well as this, 'white' suggests unhealthiness and innocence, which could suggest this person didn't deserve to die. The detached way in which Larkin talks about this body, is emphasized by calling them 'it', and saying they are 'stowed' as this objectifies them. This may be a reference to the way people detach themselves from death so it doesn't hurt them, but also reinforces his limited perspective as he is seeing the event like anyone else would. 

In stanza three, Larkin describes the way people react to seeing this as to 'sense the solving emptiness that lies just under all we do'. Here Larkin is the lack of meaning to life, as he sees it as empty underneath the surface, and death is something that brings this to our attention, suggesting witnessing death is a life changing rare moment. 'Lies' also reinforces the presence of death that is throughout this poem, as it denotes laying to rest. Larkin goes on to describe the 'emptiness' as 'so permanent and blank and true', which could be interpreted as pessimism as Larkin is saying, even though life isn't permanent, the emptiness is. This is followed by a sense of ending as 'the fastened doors recede', which suggests life is being taken out of your hands. This phrasing interestingly makes the ambulance sound more alive than the person, and therefore more in control. The final line of this stanza is 'they whisper at their own distress', which demonstrates Larkin's view of people's selfishness, as they only worry about themselves. 

Larkin uses irony in stanza four in the phrasing 'borne away in deadened air', as 'borne' suggests life rather than death. Also 'deadened air' reflects the way death surround people and is a constant presence in this poem. The sense of ending is also presented clearly in this stanza, with phrasing such as 'sudden shut of loss' and 'an end'. 'Sudden shut of loss' demonstrates the way death shuts you off from others and is abrupt. The idea of things coming to an end is also presented in this stanza by the idea of things falling apart, things being the 'unique random bland of families and fashions'. This phrase could be interpreted as Larkin belittling life to something no more then 'random', and there is nothing more to it. 

 The idea of things falling apart are cemented in stanza five as things 'at last begin to loosen', connoting death. 'At last' denotes a keenness that could suggest Larkin thinks life is a bad thing. LArkin also introduces the idea of isolation in this final stanza as he describes the body in the abulance 'unreachable', surrounded by 'traffic parts', and 'far from the exchange of love'. This acts as a somber ending as it suggests your last moments will be far from who you love, with nothing but machines. As Larkin describes the ambulance driving away, 'traffic parts to let go by', the prospect of death becomes more prominent, it 'brings closer what is left to come'. The final line of the poem 'and dulls to distance all we are' sums up Larkin's views about the meaning about life and death, as when looking at the big picture and death, what we are seems meaningless. It also reiterates the idea of isolation as he suggests death makes us feel isolated.