'A Winter Visit' by Dannie Abse

In this Abse poem, I can see similarities to Larkin and huge differences. I think of Larkin immediately when reading this because it is about death - and Larkin does write about death a lot.

However, unlike Larkin, we are allowed an insight into Abse's emotions. We see him write, 'and because it's true I want to cry.' We would NEVER catch Larkin writing something like this. I believe this is why I feel more connected to Abse than I ever did to Larkin.

This poem seems very real and I can imagine Abse and his mother or something going for a walk in the park and having this conversation. I think this is why this poem makes me feel really sad as I can beieve that t happened and we get a sense of how it made Abse feel.