Sunny Prestatyn

In this poem Larkin describes an advert promoting 'Sunny Prestatyn', using a picture of an attractive woman on the beach. This advert has been crudely defaced and drawn over, and Larkin exposes meaning in this destruction, and emotion, suggesting the girl that has been made a joke should be pitied, while at the same time using humour to entertain the reader. The rhyme scheme is ABCABDCD.

Stanza 1:

• 'tautened' shows how tight her clothes were, showing how she has been exploited for her sexuality. 
• 'laughed the girl' suggests the advert for this place has become a joke
• 'sunny' is a cheerful optimistic presentation of the place
• 'white satin' denotes innocence, suggesting the drawings on top have defaced and tainted innocence
• 'hunk of coast' and 'hotel with palms' have been personified to make them sound attractive
• 'expand from her thighs' reinforces her sexuality, reiterated by 'breast-lifting arms' suggesting the girl is being advertised rather than the destination

Stanza 2:

• Uses ruder language to reflect how Larkin views the rudeness and disrespect in this treatment of the advert
• 'slapped up' links to makeup suggesting she is used because of her looks. It also mirrors the ways the poster would be 'slapped up' without care and is quite a violent action demonstrating the violence in the rude drawings over it
• 'one day' makes it sound insignificant
• 'snaggle toothed and boss-eyed' demonstrates the focus on appearance, as well as showing the comedy in what has happened. 
• 'scored well in' reinforces the idea of it being a violent action and suggests the ad/girl has been permanently effected and tainted by this. 'scored' also links to a poor treatment of women
• 'place between her legs...held...a tuberous cock and balls' links to her sexuality which in Larkin's view has been ruined.
• 'breasts' becomes 'tits' in this stanza reflecting the way the doodle has made it more derogatory

Stanza 3:

• 'stab' is a violent action, suggesting a violence towards women or at society and the way it works
• 'stab right through mustached lips' suggests that once her sexuality is gone she has no use
• 'she was too good for this life' suggests she has literally been killed by this action, possibly suggesting once your dignity has gone you have nothing. It also suggests women have value because of their good looks, but once this is gone they are pointless. It also demonstrates the way men want perfection but then ruin women themselves ( as 'titch thomas' was a man )
• 'now fight cancer is there' could show that 'cancer' wouldn't be disrespected like that, linking to the way people are sensitive to some things but disrespect others. Alternatively it could be Larkin's annoyance that the pretty girl he wanted to look at has gone, or suggest people have no respect for anything, they just are destructive to everything.