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Today, on February 9th, 2010, the site contains 196 poets, 8,692 poems and 8,017 comments.
Analysis and comments on This Be The Verse by Philip Larkin

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Comment 41 of 51, added on February 17th, 2009 at 4:40 AM.

In my opinion Philip Larkin is right in the one hand but also wrong in the other.
He is right because, in his tme, the parents were oldfashioned and stricter then today. Also the young people in the 1970s wanted to break free from the old rules of their society.
But todayīs parents became more liberal. Of course there are rules to keep but not as many and not as strict ones than in former times. Of course they make mistakes but everyone makes some and thatīs not a reason for donīt having kids anymore.

Elena from Germany
Comment 40 of 51, added on February 17th, 2009 at 4:41 AM.

Larkin describes in the poem "This BE the verse" the situation of the youth in the 70s. He tells us how hard the relationship was between parents and youth.
In his view the solution for this problem was "having no children".
Because of this I donīt like the poem. Also he describes the time just as a bad time.
Larkin speaks to all of the youth about his problems.
He forgot that there were youth who had a good relationship with their parents. They didnīt have any problems in this time.
Also, I canīt believe that Larkin had this entire time a bad relationship with his parents.

Elisabeth from Germany
Comment 39 of 51, added on February 17th, 2009 at 4:38 AM.

The poem "This Be The Verse" by Philip Larkin of the year 1988 is about the old generation which have tochange their attitude towards the new generation. Philip Larkin wants to warn his generation and he wants that the parnets get out of their old rules.
In my opinion Philip Larkib didn't think enough about what he says in his poem. I don't agree with his suggestions , for example about the parents: Your parents often want the best for you and they don't want to fill the kids with the faults,like he mentions in line 3 and 4. In addition to that he talks about the tqo sides which the old generation has in his opinion. He speakes about the whole people but I think that's too general. Furthermore he wants to protect the world by not having any kids. But I think, you can't protect the world in this way because there aren't any new generation. In any case, the poem "This Be The Verse" is too pessimistic and naive!

Marie from Germany
Comment 38 of 51, added on February 17th, 2009 at 4:45 AM.

In my opinion "this be the verse" is a good poem. If you read the title you donīt know what the poem ist about, so you are going to ead the first lines. "they fuck you up" is an atypical beginning for a poem. Also words like "fuck up" are not written down very often. But the writer uses the words which come to his mind and because of this you can understand Larkin. His feelings -for example his fury- are shown in a very expressive way. I think afer reading this poem, everyone will think about it.

Kathrin from Germany
Comment 37 of 51, added on February 17th, 2009 at 4:39 AM.

I guess the poem embodies the thoughts of a whole generation and gives an impression of the 1970s. Larkin's about my parents' age, but i can get easily into the subject. Although i'm not into free love and not having children, i can follow what he says about strictness and the old-fashioned attitude. These are problems that are and always will be present.

Judith from Germany
Comment 36 of 51, added on February 17th, 2009 at 11:40 AM.

In my opinion it is a good poem but I don't agree with all the aspects he mentions.
I can understand that he was discontented with the conversative views of his parents but he can't say that it 's better not to have children anymore.
I think the poem fits with the time of " Flower Power"
but not with our generation because todays parents respect and accept their childrens decision and often let let them find their own way.

stefanie from Germany
Comment 35 of 51, added on February 17th, 2009 at 4:35 AM.

I think Philip Larkin has written a very provokative poem. Although he mentions a problem that exists infinitely, his ideas to stop the problem are crazy and impossible to realise.
But I think he wants to reach other things. Itīs enough when the new generations educate their children in a different, better way.
In the first stanza, he describes his issue. I agree that our parents fill us with their faults because we learn from then. But I donīt think that theyīre doing it intentionnally.
Finally I donīt like the poem because either the message or the poet is crazy. But I like that he provokes to wake up the people.


Michael Westermann from Botswana
Comment 34 of 51, added on October 11th, 2008 at 1:41 PM.

As I was reading "The Reading Group" by Elizabeth Noble, she made reference to this poem. Being American I hadn't heard of Philp Larkin. What a great poem for teenagers! Perfect.

Patricia VanInwagen from United States
Comment 33 of 51, added on April 16th, 2008 at 9:12 AM.

This is a point directed at the people who seem to think that Larkin 'foresaw the gradual and progressive degradation of the family unit in american society.' Hello? Have you not read the rest of the poems in the anthology, High Windows. Larkin & his poems were so quintessentially english it is unbelievable. One of themes running throughout the anthology is that of 'englishness'. Get your facts right before you start commenting!

megan from United Kingdom
Comment 32 of 51, added on February 9th, 2008 at 12:47 PM.

This is a great tutorial thanks!D

yang from United States

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Information about This Be The Verse

Poet: Philip Larkin
Poem: This Be The Verse
Added: Feb 20 2003
Viewed: 30945 times
Poem of the Day: Feb 10 2008


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