Wild oats

This poem is based upon the only woman Larkin came close to marriage with: his first girlfriend Ruth Bowman. She had a friend called Jane, who is the model for the “bosomy English rose”, while sixteen-year-old Ruth was “her friend in specs I could talk to”.  The idea of “specs” reminds us of ‘A Study of Reading Habits’, because its about the tending to undervalue oneself and one's abilities poem, and in its way, this isn't . The title ‘Wild Oats’ comes from a common euphemism for sex: an encouragement for boys to go out and ‘saw some wild oats’ – sleep with lots of women before getting serious. During the 1950s, there was still a real dichotomy between males and females: men were encouraged to ‘get out there’, while women were advised to remain chaste.

Considering ‘A Study of Reading Habits’ and Larkin, though, this seems a somewhat ironic title: no matter the adolescent fantasies of the persona in ‘A Study’, Larkin doesn't seem the type to have cast many. Immediately in this poem, the persona is intimidated by the “rose” and “it was the friend I took out”. 

In the first stanza Larkin talks about two women where he works at. The first one is " a bosomy english rose" which is the one that Larkin fancies, however Larkin is not confident to talk to her and intimidated by her. The other one is the " friend in specs", this women is the one Larkin does not fancy but she is the one "I could talk to".  However Larkin decides that " it was the friend i took out". 

The second stanza says that the relationship lasted "seven years", which is a long time considering that you are in love with her friend and not her. They gave each other over "four hundred letters" and they tried to break up five times but it never went through in the end. 

In the final stanza Larkin admits that he has done wrong by saying " I was too selfish, withdrawn, And easily bored to love, then they break up with each other.  After twenty years though, Larkin still wants his fantasy girl however he knows that he cannot get her. 

Larkin uses objectification of women, because he says that he loves the "bosomy english rose" because of er looks and not her personality. The poem itself is about unwanted life and unsatisfied life. It is also about Love  

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