Section 4 Summary

Larkin writes "Homage to a Government" about soldiers who are sent home for lack of money. The poet says that it is OK to bring the soldiers home, because the places that need to be guarded and orderly will have to learn to do these things for themselves. Although the action of bringing the soldiers home may make changes in the country the next year, the statues will still be standing and the town squares will look the same. The children will not notice that anything has changed and Larkin asserts that the best thing that one can do for those children is to give them money.

The poet talks about the sea, and how walking along the seaside brings back memories of things crowded beneath the horizon, from the beach to towels, to water and to a boat on the water. Children...