the present thesis is going to investigate the theme of despair, darkness and pesimism in philip larkins poetry. larkin is a british poet whose poems were composed in the dark and gloomy years of postwar. so, his poetry contains and reflects the same darkness and despair of his age. a good number of poems form different collections of his poetry are chosen and will be analyzed in the light of the themes of despair, darkness, pessimism and negative view of life reflected in his poems.