The Death of Aunt Alice

'The Death of Aunt Alice' by Dannie Abse is about the persona remembering his Aunt's funerals and the memories that they shared together. Therefore I believe that the main themes in this poem are loss, love and memory. 

One of the things that I found interesting about this poem was the quotes "relished high catastrophe" and "dressed in black" quite interesting as the first quote suggests that Alice used to stand out from the crowd however the last quote suggests that although she did stand out, we all still end up in the same place which is death. The fact that she stood out can also be supported by "where's your opera ending?" as it suggests that everybody expected more from Alice in her last few days due to the personality and character that she had.

Another thing that I found interesting was the way the persona remembers his Aunt talking about gory deaths in stanza 4 and how in the last stanza the persona says "Disasters that lit your eyes will no more". This suggests that Aunt Alice's life was quite dramatic and drastic but it can also represent the callousness of life. This can be linked to Larkin's poem "Take one home for the kiddies" through the quote "mam, we're playing funerals now" which also shows the callousness of life. 

Two Photographs

This poem by Dannie Abse is about the love that he feels for his both his grandmothers and although they were completely different characters he still shared the same amount of love for them both. This poem is also about memory as the photographs referred to in the title are what takes him back to this memory. Therefore, I believe that the key themes in this poem are memory and love.
One of the things that I found interesting about this poem was the descriptions that Abse chose to use when describing both grandmothers. Annabella is described as "How slim" and "vulnerable" whilst Doris is described as "How portly" and "formidable". Abse chooses to describe the two women with a similar pattern showing that the love that he has for Annabella and Doris is symmetrical. This can also be seen in "Annabella fasted-pious, passive" and "Doris feasted-pacy, pushy". This again shows a parallel listing  which has produced a vivid memory with a tone of celebration coming through. The equal love that Abse had for the two women can be also be seen in "I liked Doris, I liked Annabella".
Another thing that I found interesting about this poem was the way Abse chose to use the senses when talking about his grandparents. An example of this is "withered rose" and "my Eau de Cologne grandmothers" which shows his sense of smell. The quote "I dreamed" is also quite interesting as it shows the inner life of a poet and the personal thoughts that they connect with through their dreams.
Lastly, I also found the question in the poem of "Who?" significant as it shows that when people pass away they only exist in the minds of those who knew and loved them. Therefore, there is a sense of loss in this poem as well.
'Two Photographs' can link to many different poems by Larkin. It can link to 'Mr Bleaney' and 'Dockery and Son' through the portrayal of two persona's but it can also link to 'Love Songs in Age' This is due to the fact that in both poems there is a memento or souvenir which triggers a memory and in this case it is the photographs. This is also the case of 'Reference Back'. However, through the fact that there is a contrast of two women in 'Two Photographs', it can also link to 'Self's the Man'. The line "sudden sunbeam (sieved through leaky curtains)" can link to 'Home Is So Sad' through the use of concrete nouns providing a memory.
I believe that this poem by Abse is celebrating the diversity of women and the love and fondness from Abse towards women. This is unlike Larkin as he celebrates the superficiality of women.