Aubade Analysis

An aubade is typically a poem that celebrates the arrival of dawn. An aubade can also be a kind of morning love poem, often centering around two lovers parting at dawn (check out "What's Up With th...

Our speaker is, well… how can Shmoop put this without sounding too mean? The guy (and we're just assuming it's a guy) is a huge drag. His drinking habits put him well outside the range of a socia...

"Aubade" takes place in the speaker's house—more specifically, in his bedroom. He wakes up before dawn and can't go back to sleep. He stares at the dark windows anticipating dawn's arrival. He's...

Despite all that meter and the end rhyme, "Aubade" doesn't really sound too, well, poet-y. It sounds more conversational, like the way some fairly-educated, grumpy guy would talk. The word choice a...

At first glance, the title of this one functions on a pretty basic level: it tells us what kind of poem it is—kind of like titling a sonnet… "Sonnet." However, upon closer inspection (time to g...

Conversational tone? Iambic pentameter and rhyme? Wish you had never read the poem because now you're so depressed that fifth period seems absolutely out of the question? If you can check off all o...

This one isn't all that difficult in terms of meaning. Bring a light snack and some comfortable shoes and you should be fine. However, your emotional toughness will be tested. You might just want t...

You know you've made it when… you have your own society that publishes a regular journal about you, in this case About Larkin. (Source.)In life, Larkin avoided people, never married, and worked a...

Traditionally, an aubade can certainly be a bit steamy—it's a morning love poem after all. However, were talking about Larkin here. In his aubade, he skipped the steamy stuff so he could fit in m...