The Importance of elsewhere

The importance of elsewhere is a poem about the time that Larkin spent living in Ireland (the only time he spent away from Britain) he shows how homesick and lonely he has become. He goes on to say that his day to day life in Ireland is lonesome and he feels isolated from day to day life around him. The description of the surroundings is similar to London which evokes a homesickness to Larkin. "Archaic smell of dockland"...

Larkin goes on to describe how he is treated as an outsider from the Irish, people want nothing to do with him and he lives his life in comparative isolation. However later on he realises that he enjoys the isolation from the rest of society and the public who he sees on a day to day basis begin to accept and acknowledge him. If he was living in London he would have to follow a set of 'rules' that would be followed in day to day life.