The Explosion
On the day of the explosion 
Shadows pointed towards the pithead: 
In the sun the slagheap slept. 

Down the lane came men in pitboots 
Coughing oath-edged talk and pipe-smoke 
Shouldering off the freshened silence. 

One chased after rabbits; lost them; 
Came back with a nest of lark's eggs; 
Showed them; lodged them in the grasses. 

So they passed in beards and moleskins 
Fathers brothers nicknames laughter 
Through the tall gates standing open. 

At noon there came a tremor; cows 
Stopped chewing for a second; sun 
Scarfed as in a heat-haze dimmed. 

The dead go on before us they 
Are sitting in God's house in comfort 
We shall see them face to face-- 

plain as lettering in the chapels 
It was said and for a second 
Wives saw men of the explosion 

Larger than in life they managed-- 
Gold as on a coin or walking 
Somehow from the sun towards them 

One showing the eggs unbroken.

From Wikipedia(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Larkin)

Philip Arthur Larkin, CH, CBE, FRSL (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet and novelist. His first book of poetry, The North Ship, was published in 1945, followed by two novels, Jill (1946) and A Girl in Winter (1947), but he came to prominence in 1955 with the publication of his second collection of poems, The Less Deceived, followed by The Whitsun Weddings (1964) and High Windows (1974). He contributed to The Daily Telegraph as its jazz critic from 1961 to 1971, articles gathered together in All What Jazz: A Record Diary 1961–71 (1985), and he edited The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse (1973).[1] He was the recipient of many honours, including the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.[2] He was offered, but declined, the position of poet laureate in 1984, following the death of John Betjeman.

Philip Larkin reads The Explosion

Molly's Soliloquy from Ulysses by James Joyce

James Joyce reads from the Aeolus episode of Ulysses, the only passage he found to be “declamatory” and thus suitable for recital.

Background and context: http://exp.lore.com/post/53132569188/as-open-culture-explains-this-rare-1924-recording

Lit

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