1922-1985. English poet. His perfectionist,
pessimistic verse includes The North Ship
1945, The Whitsun Weddings 1964, and High
Windows 1974. He edited The Oxford Book of
20th-Century English Verse 1973. Born in
Coventry, Larkin was educated at Oxford, and
from 1955 was librarian at Hull University.
He also wrote two novels.