Both Phillip Larkin and Abse use setting to represent underlying meanings in life and the world they live in, which can be seen in Larkin's poems "Whitsun Weddings" and "First Sight"; and Abse's poem "Last visit to 198 Cathedral road."
Whitsun weddings is one of Larkin's most famous poems and explores setting prominently in each stanza. In this poem, like in many of his others, Larkin uses reality and normality to express the underlying meaning of life and change, and to also set a contrast to the abstract imagery in the poem. He sets the poem on a train, a very ordinary journey, and lists very common places and objects to emphasise how typical the day is. "That Whitsun, I was late getting away:/not till about/one-twenty on the sunlit Saturday..." His vocabulary is typically familiar throughout the poem and Larkin uses colloquial language to promote the ordinariness of the day. Furthermore, it sets an informal story-like voice to the persona. From the opening line the poem takes a very typical rhyme scheme of 'ABABCDECDE' with the lines of each stanza having 10 syllables excluding the second line which sets a visual contrast, but can also suggest the alternating but fairly regular rhythm of the train. The use of enjambment further indicates this as it shows the continuation of the train on its journey, and continues a very Larkinesque feature of letting the poem flow ordinarily between lines and stanza's.
In comparison, the realism Larkin uses sets a strong contrast against his use of abstract imagery to highlight a philosophical thought about life. In the last stanza he states "This frail/ traveling coincidence; and what it held stood ready to be loosened with all the power/ that change could give" where he is indicating that this journey - with people on the train who will continue with their lives and not remember him - is part of his life and the realisation of this has changed the persona. The Declarative "Frail traveling coincidence" sets contrast to...