Philip Larkin was an English poet and one of the most acclaimed poets of the latter half of the 20th century. He attended Oxford, then studied professionally to become a librarian, a career he would retain even as he grew famous for his poetry. His body of work totaled only about 100 pages, a small size, but he nonetheless attained critical acclaim. Larkin had a reputation for being grumpy and glum, and many of his poems deal with sad themes. In 1984, he was offered the position of Poet Laureate, but he declined to take it. In a 2003 Poetry Book Society survey, Larkin was named Britain's best-loved poet of the last 50 years.
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