Reference Black by Philip Larkin

Reference Black by Philip Larkin
The poem shows Larkin obsessing over his  regrets in life therefore it has a pessimistic and cynical tone. The poem also relates music to time.
                                     'I heard you call From the unsatisfactory hall'
From within the beginning the audience begins to see that the poem starts off with a mother and son listening to music together in their home, essentially forming the image of a mother and son that hold a bond over music. However, the word 'unsatisfactory' is used twice in the first stanza which could suggest that the son feels the need to move away and form a life of his own, he may not be completely happy. The word reflects a negative image. Larkin then mentions how he 'Played record after record, idly, Wasting [his] time at home' which implies that the poet gains little pleasure from the experience. The first stanza conveys a negative message about his time at home, where the songs reinforce the memories once shared with his memories.
                                                    'Out of Chicago air'
 Within the second stanza, the theme of history is introduced as the song makes the poet reminisce over times in Chicago, he comments on jazz music and the 'antique Negros' which links the era. Nevertheless, Larkin is unhappy with the way his mother has aged, he calls it an 'unsatisfactory age' which forms a negative image. The 'sudden bridge' links his mother and him who are both enjoying the music, but the bridge is also a metaphor for age between the two generations. Larkin uses an oxymoron in the final line of stanza two by using 'unsatisfactory prime' because your prime is supposed to be the best time of your life, yet he is unhappy. 
                                     'We are not suited to the long perspectives'
 In the final stanza, the line 'They link us to our losses' suggests that we are able to think of the ones we have lost when we listen to music, which makes the memories come flooding back. The audience can see that the message being made is no matter the choices we make in life, everything would still be the same, death is inevitable.'Blindingly undiminished' could indicate that Larkin used to see life with optimism, but as he has grown up he feels differently, with youth you see things with great hope.