The Mower

In “The Mower” (1979), Philip Larkin turns a mundane moment of domestic life into a poignant reflection on death, responsibility, and compassion. The poem’s plain diction and moral clarity make it one of Larkin’s most moving affirmations of human tenderness.

The mower stalled, twice; kneeling, I found
A hedgehog jammed up against the blades,
Killed. It had been in the long grass.

I had seen it before, and even fed it, once.
Now I had mauled its unobtrusive world 5
Unmendably. Burial was no help:

Next morning I got up and it did not.
The first day after a death, the new absence
Is always the same; we should be careful

Of each other, we should be kind 10
While there is still time.

—Philip Larkin (1979)

Introduction and Context

Philip Larkin (1922–1985) wrote “The Mower” in June 1979, and it was first published posthumously in Collected Poems (1988). The poem belongs to Larkin’s late period, when his writing had become increasingly meditative, domestic, and elegiac. At this stage of his career, Larkin—then Librarian at the University of Hull and one of Britain’s most widely read poets—had largely withdrawn from public life. His poetry from the late 1970s reflects a private moral awareness grounded in ordinary experience rather than metaphysical speculation, and “The Mower” is exemplary of this quiet humanism.

The poem recounts a simple but devastating event: while mowing his lawn, the speaker accidentally kills a hedgehog he had previously fed. The encounter prompts a moral reflection on death, empathy, and the fleeting nature of human kindness. The mower’s accidental cruelty—“I had mauled its unobtrusive world / Unmendably”—becomes an emblem of the ease with which carelessness can destroy innocent life. In its concluding moral, “we should be careful / Of each other, we should be kind / While there is still time,” Larkin distills a secular ethic grounded in compassion and awareness of mortality.

Larkin’s imagery, as in much of his work, is precise, domestic, and unsentimental. The “hedgehog jammed up against the blades” offers a stark visual and tactile contrast to the tranquility of the “long grass,” creating a scene of sudden violence within an otherwise mundane routine. His diction is deliberately plain, allowing the poem’s moral weight to emerge through understatement rather than overt moralizing. The mower becomes a figure for human agency—capable of nurture or destruction—while the hedgehog represents the fragile, unnoticed life around us.

The figurative language of “The Mower” is understated but potent. The “unobtrusive world” functions as a synecdoche for all that is vulnerable and easily overlooked. Larkin’s use of negation—“Burial was no help,” “it did not [get up]”—underscores the irrevocability of harm. His characteristic enjambment and conversational tone lend the poem a quiet intimacy, as though the speaker confesses rather than declares his realization.

In contemporary contexts, “The Mower” remains relevant as a meditation on environmental awareness, ethical responsibility, and the moral cost of indifference. Its ecological resonance anticipates later concerns with the human impact on nonhuman life, while its closing lines express a universal appeal toward empathy in an age often defined by haste and self-absorption. As critics such as Andrew Motion and Seamus Heaney have observed, Larkin’s late poems transform ordinary events into moral fables, and “The Mower” stands among his most succinct articulations of the necessity of kindness in a world of inevitable loss.

Questions for Consideration

How does Larkin transform a mundane domestic accident into a meditation on moral and existential themes?
In what ways does the simplicity of Larkin’s diction enhance the poem’s emotional and philosophical impact?
What is the significance of the hedgehog as a symbol? How does it reflect Larkin’s broader humanist or ecological concerns?
How does the poem’s structure—its pacing, enjambment, and line breaks—contribute to its tone of quiet remorse?
Larkin concludes, “we should be kind / While there is still time.” How does this closing sentiment resonate with or depart from the tone of his earlier poetry?
What role does guilt play in the poem, and how does it shape the speaker’s insight or transformation?
How might “The Mower” be read as an ecological or environmental poem, especially in light of contemporary discussions of the Anthropocene?
How does Larkin’s use of understatement compare with more overt moral or religious treatments of similar themes in other poets?
The poem has been described as an example of Larkin’s “secular humanism.” What evidence in the text supports that view?
How does “The Mower” invite readers to reconsider their relationship with nonhuman life and everyday acts of care—or neglect?

Sample Journal Approaches

Empathy and Responsibility: Recall a moment when you unintentionally caused harm—to a person, an animal, or even an object that mattered to you. How does Larkin’s description of the mower’s accident help you understand that moment differently?
Ordinary Life, Extraordinary Meaning: Larkin often found deep moral or emotional truths in ordinary experiences. How does “The Mower” make something as routine as mowing the lawn feel profound? What detail or image first made you pause or feel something unexpected?
Tone and Honesty: The speaker’s tone has been described as plainspoken and remorseful. How do you hear the voice in this poem? If you read it aloud, where do you sense the emotional shift—from description to reflection?
Larkin’s Moral Insight: The poem ends with a moral statement: “we should be kind / While there is still time.” Does this conclusion feel earned, sentimental, or necessary? Explain your reaction and how the earlier stanzas prepare (or fail to prepare) you for it.
Imagery and Impact: Choose one striking image or phrase (“jammed up against the blades,” “unobtrusive world,” etc.). Describe your emotional reaction to it, and then consider how its simplicity intensifies or complicates the poem’s effect.
The Everyday and the Ethical: What does “The Mower” suggest about how we move through the world and the unnoticed lives around us? How might this idea connect to your own habits of attention—or inattention—to the small details of daily life?
Humanism and Secular Grace: Larkin’s poetry often conveys moral insight without invoking religion. Do you find this closing plea for kindness convincing as a moral philosophy? Why or why not?
Connection to the Present: How might “The Mower” speak to modern concerns—environmental awareness, technology, or our treatment of animals? Can its message extend beyond the garden?
Revisiting the Accident: If you imagine this scene from the hedgehog’s perspective, how does the poem’s meaning or tone shift? What do you learn about the limits of empathy?
Lasting Impression: After reading the poem several times, what single line or image stays with you the most? Why do you think it lingers?