"Never Such Innocence"

In MCMXIV, Larkin, it seems, is reminiscing about life before the war. He creates scenes that encompass the innocence of the world before the war ripped it away.

In the beginning of the poem, he describes the attitude of the men that are signing up for the war. They were "standing patiently as if they were stretched outside the Oval or Villa Park." The text says that the Oval and Villa Park are cricket and football grounds. This must mean that the attitude of the men that were signing up for the war was similar to the attitude of men entering a simple game. They viewed the war as an opportunity to win for their team and were oblivious to the horrors that war will bring. The next scene Larkin creates is that of a simple town or village. Everything here is functioning as it should be, without any cares. His last scene also depicts the idea of innocence--"the countryside not caring: the place-names all hazed over with flowering grasses.." He creates scenes of serenity and peacefulness in the final stanzas.

All of these scenes are necessary for the effectiveness of the line "never such innocence". Larkin uses the scenes to create the peaceful images in the reader's minds in order for this line to be emphasized. Never again will the people experience these happy, innocent times with the "pubs wide open all day" and the "countryside not caring". "Never such innocence again."