Nothing To Be Said

This poem is one which explores the idea that we are all born to die; each day we get a little closer to death, and this fate is something which everybody shares. The tone of this poem is pessimistic and fairly depressing, although Larkin does add some comic phrases which create an uncomfortable desire to laugh within the reader (it is a serious matter, and it doesn't feel right to find it comedic). The themes of 'Nothing To Be Said' are death, the passing of time and different perceptions/perspectives.
     The beginning of the poem could be seen as obtaining a slightly snobbish tone; Larkin describes 'nations vague as weed', and this presents an image of countries which no-one really knows about, countries which are spreading/springing up in an undesirable fashion. Larkin continues the stanza by enhancing an image of different cultures - by describing these different classes/cultural groups of people in a list-like fashion, he emphasises the fact that everyone dies, and we all attain the same fate. By describing the 'cross-faced tribes' as 'Small-statured' Larkin creates a slightly offensive and rude tone. These different cultural roots are brought back to English, working class Northerners as he presents 'cobble-close families / In mill towns on dark mornings'. This visual imagery used to describe the surroundings of the families enhances the dismal tone/subject of the poem, and makes life seem dull, as if we are just waiting to die.
     For all these different people, their way of life is 'slow dying'; this could be seen as a positive, as life is gradual and we have longer to live, but I believe that Larkin is presenting this fact in a negative light, insinuating that everyday we are getting a little closer to death. It is not only humankind that is heading towards death, but Larkin also presents the idea that cultures and traditions, faiths and beliefs, romantic relationships and currency are also slowly dying out. This could be due to simply the passing of time, and how generations change and the world is gradually altered in every aspect. By comparing 'love and money' and placing them in the same line, Larkin presents the two as equals; this could be a suggestion that love is worthless, or that it is based on superficiality and materialistic perceptions, as if it is never genuine. Larkin goes on to talk about 'The day spent hunting pig / Or holding a garden-party', and this depicts two completely different cultures and classes. However, by stating that they both 'advance / On death equally slowly' he displays them as the same, presenting the overall idea that no matter how much money we own, or where we live, we all have the same eventual fate.
     Larkin gives a comedic comparison in the final stanza which slightly lightens the tone of the poem and aims to make the reader laugh. 'Hours giving evidence / Or birth'; his use of zeugma is blunt and humorous, presenting the two as equals when we know they are so far from the same. He ends the poem by stating 'saying so to some / Means nothing; others it leaves / Nothing to be said.' These final lines displays the division between optimists and pessimists; some people do not care that we are slowly dying, whereas for others that simple fact sums up everything. The title itself shows the reader that, out of these two contrasting groups, Larkin is a pessimist.