This Be the Verse by Philip Larkin
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were sloppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.
Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself.
Lately, I have read a good deal of poems by Philip Larkin, and one unifying factor that I have noticed is that Larkin never seems to use a filler. Every word in every one of his poems seems to be carefully crafted and placed, to the point where the flow and rhythm of the poem seem almost an accident. One poem I read that really stayed with me is the above poem, "This be the Verse." I will now show you how this poem, which at first glance seems to be written only to amuse, really has a much deeper meaning. I will examine the poem in several parts. First, I would like to examine the use of curse words in the poem, or why other words that would be considered more acceptable to the general public were not used. Then, I will discuss the three stanzas of the poem and what they were meant to do for the audience. Lastly, I will explore why Larkin would write such a poem, and what he was trying to get across to his audience by writing it.
The second line in this poem contains the word "fuck," a word that is usually not considered acceptable for the general public. Yet Larkin incorporates it almost immediately into his poem. I can think of four possible reasons why. Firstly, words such as fuck quickly and easily grab the audiences attention. This is similar to yelling "sex" in a crowded marketplace, everyone wants to know what is being discussed. Also, words like fuck prepare the audience for a humorous bit of poetry, and this perks the audience's attention, and lets them know off the bat that this will not be another long and boring verse.
Secondly, words such as fuck produce an atmosphere for adults, or mature people. One term that is used quite extensively lately is "adult language." This term branches off of the common idea that children should and would not use such words until they are older and have a more concrete knowledge of what they are really saying. Thus, by using a w...
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...of the poem then provide the solution: to stop reproducing. This is where Larkin says to the world that there is no way out of this problem. That the human race will either have to cease to exist, or simply live with all of it's problems.
Like all of his poems, Larkin wrote "This be the Verse" with very careful planning and word placement. And even though this is a funny poem, it has a very deep message to share with the world. Everyone knows that the world is full of problems, and that hundreds of organizations are trying hard to fix all of the problems in order to make our lives better. However, as demonstrated in the poem, we can never absolve all our problems because we keep handing all of our flaws on to posterity. Thus, the human race will forever have problems, and although we work hard to decrease some, we will always have new problems, and there will never be a completely happy world. And this lesson can be applied to a smaller environment as well. All the way through a country's internal problems, a city's problems, a family's problems and the problems one has with oneself. No one can ever lead a perfectly happy life. There will always be problems to overcome.
Ryan reminds us of the suggestive power of poetry–how it elicits and rewards the reader’s intellect, imagination, and emotions. I like to think that Ryan’s magnificently compressed poetry – along with the emergence of other new masters of the short poem like Timothy Murphy and H.L. Hix and the veteran maestri like Ted Kooser and Dick Davis – signals a return to concision and intensity.
A few cases in which this poem is particularly relevant in today’s society, apart from just the general hipster culture, is the fact that in many ways we’re faced with similar issues of social oppression of certain sects of the population, homophobia, discord amongst different cultures and excessive consumerism – all these being matters than Ginsberg felt strongly about and sought to fight against.
I think in the beginning, this poem is mocking the façade of happiness that many clean-cut individuals have. It is a mockery of the thoughts in the criminal mind. Many times, a criminal cannot bring himself to commit suicide, so they take someone else's life instead. By doing so, subconsciously, the criminal knows he will be caught and in turn, executed.
The ethical life of the poem, then, depends upon the propositions that evil. . . that is part of this life is too much for the preeminent man. . . . that after all our efforts doom is there for all of us” (48).
Before discussion of these poems can truly begin, some background information of each other is necessary to understand why they have written their respective poems and maybe shed some light onto why they have taken certain positions on each of the three topics. Considered one of the greatest English poets of all time, Philip Larkin gradua...
enable us to understand the moral of the poem. Which is work hard and you will receive you goals and never give up.
The four poems by Langston Hughes, “Negro,” “Harlem,” “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” and “Theme for English B” are all powerful poems and moving poems! Taken all together they speak to the very founding of relations of whites and blacks all the way down through history. The speaker in the poem the, “Negro” and also, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” tells the tale of freedom and enslavement that his people have endured, and it heralds their wisdom and strength. The poems “Harlem” and “Theme for English B” speaks to the continuous unfair treatment that the blacks have received at the hands of white people throughout the years.
In all poems the theme of Disappointment in love is seen throughout. Duffy focuses on the pain, despair and acrimony that love can bring, whereas Larkin focuses on the dissatisfaction before, during, and after a romantic relationship. Both Duffy and Larkin differ in tone. Duffy takes a more aggressive and dark stance to portray what love can do to a person after a disappointing love life. Duffy also uses this sinister and aggressive stance to try and convey sympathy for the persona from the audience in ‘Never Go Back’ and ‘Havisham’ Whereas Larkin conveys his discontent in love through his nonchalant and dismissive tone, but still concealing the pain that has been brought by love in ‘Wild Oats’ and ‘Talking in bed’.
War affects every aspect of a child 's development. Children affected by armed conflict can be injured or killed, uprooted from their homes and communities, internally displaced or refugees, orphaned or separated from their parents and families, subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation, victims of trauma as a result of being exposed to violence, deprived of education and recreation, at risk of becoming child soldiers (unknown
As a reference from present day, there been news about shooting in Pittsburg which raise questions about the safety of the local individuals. Because from a report of 2014-2015 Pittsburg city’s crime comparison has increased from the previous year. As the violent crime crime comparison per capita per has increased from 2.7 to 3.3 per 1000 capita (Pittsburg Police). The rapid increase in the crime rate arise some question about the performance and availability of police for local population. In all above circumstances, a person needs a gun to defend himself and save his and his families life. The another interesting thing about having guns is who is buying the guns, from whom and under what circumstances ? Because we need guns for our protection not to make more easily available for the criminals and unfit
The ironic use of rhyme and meter, or the lack thereof, is one of the devices Larkin uses to emphasize his need to break out of industrial society. The typical rhyme scheme is not followed, but instead an ironic rhyme scheme is used in the sonnet in the form of abab cdcd efg efg. Larkin writes this poem as a sonnet but at the same time diverges from what a typical sonnet is supposed to be. He is commenting on society’s inclination to form restrictions on those within it. By writing out of the accepted form of a sonnet, his writing becomes more natural because of a lack of constraints due to following certain rules and fitting a certain form. He breaks free and writes as he pleases and does not conform to society. Just as with the rhyme, ...
Holbrook, David. Llareggub Revisted: Dylan Thomas and the State of Modern Poetry. Cambridge: Bowes and Bowes, 1965. 100-101.
The poet mourns the death of his loved one and wants the world to grieve with him. His wants his subjective to be objective. The first stanza links everything to noise. He wants to 'silence the piano ' for example, showing how he wants no more noise in the world. Throughout the poem, there are many imperatives. This relates back to Remember, where the poems title is included in the imperatives. The third stanza has no imperatives at all, and many antonyms. This is the poets way of saying they meant everything to him. The second stanza uses 'scribbling ' to personify a plane. The use of personification in the poem links back to Do not go gentle into that good night. The first stanza contains references to things that can be easily done like 'stop all the clocks '. The second has things that are theoretically possible but a bit harder to do. The poem seems to get less and less realistic as it goes on. The final line, 'For nothing now can ever come to any good ', is quite bleak, showing how the death of his partner has affected the poet. It gives him no good feelings
Ginsberg¡¦s style is not disciplined, but based on a spontaneous utterance of ideas, violating all the current artistic canons, provoking a literary and social scandal. The powerful representations of the urban realities, of the language and matter of the urban streets were meant to induce powerful reactions of the reader. He brought the culture down to the level of streets and neighborhoods. That¡¦s why the language and the images are obscene, including symbolism and direct references to oral and anal sex, homosexuality and drug use. We can even say that the form of the poem seems to be a self exploration, shaped after his own life.
The most relevant technique that MacNeice uses is the irregular structure of the poem. Although it is presented as a prayer, the subject matter is contrasted to be vulgar, morbid and violent, heightening the effect all the more. The varied length of the stanzas and lines is a mere reflection of the chaos in the world. The deterioration of humanity is effectively brought out through the cascading lines in the poem – we are left with the feeling that with every second that pas...