If Hands Could Free You, Heart

Philip Larkin

If hands could free you, heart,
Where would you fly?
Far, beyond every part
Of earth this running sky
Makes desolate?  Would you cross
City and hill and sea,
If hands could set you free?

I would not lift the latch;
For I could run
Through fields, pit-valleys, catch
All beauty under the sun--
Still end in loss:
I should find no bent arm, no bed
To rest my head.

Next 10 Poems

• Philip Larkin : Ignorance
• Philip Larkin : Is It For Now Or For Always
• Philip Larkin : Like The Train's Beat
• Philip Larkin : Lines On A Young Lady's Photograph Album
• Philip Larkin : Long Sight In Age
• Philip Larkin : Love Again
• Philip Larkin : Love Songs In Age
• Philip Larkin : Love, We Must Part Now
• Philip Larkin : Maiden Name
• Philip Larkin : Maturity

Previous 10 Poems

• Philip Larkin : I Remember, I Remember
• Philip Larkin : I Have Started To Say
• Philip Larkin : How Distant
• Philip Larkin : Home Is So Sad
• Philip Larkin : Homage To A Government
• Philip Larkin : High Windows
• Philip Larkin : He Hears That His Beloved Has Become Engaged
• Philip Larkin : Grief
• Philip Larkin : Going
• Philip Larkin : Friday Night At The Royal Station Hotel