Response to "High Windows"

The poem "High Windows" by Philip Larkin describes an older man (at least 60) who ponders the life of two kids when he sees them.  His first thought when he sees the couple is that they are "fucking".  In my opinion this is a strange and dark first thought about two people.  There are many other thoughts that might come to mind other than thinking about their private life.  This one opinion shapes the rest of the poem.

He goes on to say that "I know this is paradise everyone old has dreamed of all their lives."  Then he talks about how this "paradise" is free of "bonds and gestures" and how the young couple is going down a "long slide to happiness."

After talking about the slide he thinks back to his own life and says "I wonder if anyone looked at me, forty years back and thought that'll be the life."  Then to end the poem he talks about "high windows" and "deep blue air, that shows nothing."

What I take away from this poem is that the man is looking at the kids in a longing way.  He wishes that he could go back to his younger days when life was not as complicated.  The fact that he talks about "bonds and gestures pushed to one side like an outdated combine harvester" leads me to that conclusion.  The bonds and gestures are symbols of the commitments he now has in his life.  He sees how free the kids' lives seems to be.

I found the reference to the slide interesting because he describes it as an endless slide TO happiness.  He does not say it is a long slide OF happiness.  What good is a long slide to happiness?  Wouldn't most people want a short slide to happiness?  And if the slide is endless what good is it?  The riders will never reach the happiness they desire.  This could be what the poem is trying to tell us.  I think the poem wants the reader to see how good life was in their younger days and how confusing and stressful their lives are now that they are older.