He has arrived at his destination, a place unknown to the reader. Without power, the ships glide through the water and up to the dock. Alongside the water, he can see the вЂњwater lanesвЂќ and the вЂњtall sheds.вЂќ There is a bag hitting against вЂњhis kneesвЂќ and the sounds of the вЂњslackenedвЂќ or shut off, engines are in his ears. Next, Larkin moves the readerвЂ™s perspective inside the scene and describes what a traveller sees and feels. Even though the water is tame, they have to be cautious. It is easy to imagine the ships creeping up to the edge of the dock, making tentative and timid movements. They are described as вЂњsidlingвЂќ up to the docks. This place is filled with docking boats, which Larkin calls вЂњchannel boats.вЂќ This is likely a reference to the long narrowboats which were crafted to fit through the thin English canals. In the first stanza of this piece the speaker begins by placing the poetic setting in a town with docks. This town has docks where channel boats come sidling Even though he is in bed, the speaker and his companion rise and make their way to the dock.ДЄnalysis of Arrivals, Departures Stanza One LarkinвЂ™s speaker does not seem able to resist the call of the boats. They provide him, and his companion, with the chance to move on, a least for a time. Whenever the boats arrive he is faced with the same choice. In the next line, the speaker introduces his won dilemma, to leave or not to leave. This contrasts with the timidity of the boats themselves as they navigate the canals. A traveller is riding on one of these boats and his arrival is sudden. The poem beings with a description of narrowboats arriving at a dock. вЂArrivals, DeparturesвЂ™ by Philip Larkin speaks on the comings and goings of ships and describes a narrator who is unable to resist the sound of their call, no matter when it comes. At any moment the ship could call and the speaker could leave. Larkin has crafted a strange world in which none of the elements feel settled or secure. It also helps to create a somewhat foreboding mood for the text. This choice to emphasize the words, вЂњcome and choose wrongвЂќ shows a bit of the pressure the speaker feels he is under. Within the text itself, repetition is present in the shipвЂ™s pleading call. He does not realize he is allowed to stay home and ignore the вЂњcallвЂќ of the horns. Especially for the speaker, there does not seem to be any way out of this process. They arrive somewhere, are called back to the ship, and depart again. The speaker, and the traveller mentioned in the first stanza, are in a loop. It is physically present in the text but also implied in the narrative. One of the most important elements of this piece is that of repetition. The first of these is unstressed and the second stressed.

This means that they contain five sets of two beats.

In regards to the meter, almost every line sticks to the pattern of iambic pentameter. Each of these stanzas follows a distinct rhyme scheme, parts of which connect from quintain to quintain in вЂArrivals, Departures.вЂ™ The lines conform to a pattern of ABBAC DDCEF FEAAA. This is a three- stanza poem that is separated into sets of five lines, or quintains.

Thy arrivals departures