Naturally the Foundation will Bear Your Expenses

Themes
Attitudes to war, academics, memorial days, class

Content
This poem should most certainly be read as a persona and not Larkin himself as the persona is clearly a well-travelled academic who is about to leave the country for Bombay, India. This person is controversially commenting on the service being carried out for Remembrance day and how he believes it to simply be a waste of time which has disrupted his journey. Larkin is commenting on the snobbery that surrounds the world of academia and their introspective lives.

Analysis

• From the start of the poem, the persona is "hurrying" and too wrapped up in their own problems to pay attention to anything going on around them. The term "Comet" refers to the type of plane the persona is catching, thus instantly showing that this is a persona and not Larkin as Larkin disliked travel. The fact that they are travelling by plane and not train as in many of Larkin's other poems highlights how they look down on people and do not wish to be social or integrated into society-isolated. The use of the personal pronoun "me" reinforces their sense of self-worth.
• The persona is travelling to"Bombay", the university of which will pay for their "expenses" in terms of travel and accommodation, as stated in the title. The speaker clearly believes this to be a point of pride in that they are so desired that institutions will pay to have them.
• However, the paper that they are presenting is that which they first heard in "Berkeley"(a famous University in California). Clearly, this is an example of plagiarism and the persona is so desperate to be published that they will steal someone else's work. It is here that Larkin's clear dislike of academics appears as Larkin saw many snobby academics during his time as librarian at Hull University. 
• The last two lines of the first stanza make reference to "Chatto"( a London publishing house) and "the Third" ( the most 'intellectual' station on BBC Radio 3). The persona is trying to show off their intellect but has no humanity or pity as the phrase "darkly/Through the mirror" shows. This is a reference to the Bible which highlights what the persona is lacking.
• Moving into the second stanza the "Crowds, colourless and careworn" surround the persona, who is still disconnected from them. Larkin uses alliteration to suggest that the persona views the crowd as all the same and undeserving of attention. The only reason to notice them is the inconvenience they cause in making the "taxi late".
• Only when the persona is "airborne" do they realise the importance of the date-they had forgotten that which it was inexcusable to forget and are disconnected from reality. The date is Remembrance Day and the time when the "Queen, Minister/And Band of Guards" have their remembrance ceremony at "Whitehall". It is here that the real controversy begins as the sibilance of "solemn-sinister" seems to suggest that the words are spat out in disgust and that the seriousness of the situation is glamourized- war is celebrated and the people who once made the decisions to send people to war are the ones mourning them (hypocritical), it is just an "act".
• The persona even goes so far as to state that the ceremony is "wreath-rubbish". Such disrespect for the sacrifice of the soldiers is evident in this phrase and it appears that they believe the ceremony to be a waste of time. It's only significance is the delay it cost him. This point is further emphasised in the next line, which childishly exaggerates that the ceremony "used to make" the persona "throw up".
• The word "mawkish" means overly sentimental and accuses the public of participating in a "nursery game" as the persona lacks the empathy to sympathise. The sarcasm expressed in "O When will England grow up?" deliberately invites criticism of the persona and shows how self-important they believe themselves to be. The sacrifice of millions means nothing to them.
• Unlike the majority of Larkin's poems in this collection, this poem does not have a profound end as the persona simply flies away to meet his "pal" who "once met Morgen Forster". Even now, they cannot stop name-dropping and have no deeper thoughts or feelings, only a pretentious tone. Moreover, they are bitterly hypocritical as they continuously display egotism yet critique Remembrance Day for being too exaggerated and fake. Larkin is making us question the way different classes view war and highlighting that there are some people who are so self-absorbed that they do not care about historic events that deserve to be faithfully remembered.
• The constant rhyme scheme of ABABCDCD gives the poem an energetic air, suggesting the pace of the persona but also making the poem harder to read at times-halting.

Links to other poems
'MCMXIV'- differing attitudes to war, one nostalgic and gentler whilst the other is cruel and vicious-indifferent
'The Whitsun Weddings'-the contrast between travelling by train and by plane
'Self's The Man'-sense of self-importance, every decision being selfish
'A Study Of Reading Habits'-dismissive tone

Academic Links:http://poetryandsuchlike.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/naturally-foundation-will-bear-your.html, http://www.allinfo.org.uk/levelup/naturally.htm