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Comment 3 of 33, added on January 29th, 2005 at 3:27 PM.
This is one of my favourite poems. I am not a scholar and have not studied poetry but I believe it to be very true, parents do 'fuck you up' although generally not intentionally, as I am now a parent I can see even more truth in it. The use of the 'bad word' is very descriptive and I don't think he could have got his point across so well with the use of something different. This poem is direct, gritty and marvelous in it's simplicity.
S. S. from United Kingdom
Comment 2 of 33, added on January 6th, 2005 at 6:16 AM.
I have grown to appreciate this poem: what appears a merely frivilous poem contains a darker, more sinister undercurrent; Larkin entwines farce with real concern (First two lines in last stanza).
I particularly like Larkin's portrayal of life's cyclical, here monotinous nature, conveyed structurally by his repetitive ab ab ryhme scheme.
Ellen from United Kingdom
Comment 1 of 33, added on December 1st, 2004 at 4:31 PM.
Firstly, the title of the poem gives it a religious look. ‘This Be The Verse’ almost sounds like a sermon, and this may encourage the reader to read the poem like that. It’s structured very simply on the page, having three stanzas and an even simpler rhyme scheme. A B A B. This again makes it very easy to read at a flowing rhythm. Larkin’s views are expressed quite blatantly in this instance. He has a target audience in youth and the future generation, and is saying that life is spiralling downhill through each generation. That there is nothing you can do to stop this and “get out as early as you can”, as to not pass this on to any future generations. The use of the word ‘fuck’ in this poem is to add shock value, as it is delivered in the very first line. “They fuck you up, your mum and dad”. ‘Fuck’ is a very strong word, and immediately grabs the readers attention as it not a word commonly used it poetry. Larkin perhaps used this word to help this poem stand out, and most definitely, to be different. In terms of how this word is used in the poem, Larkin certainly knows his target audience. He uses this word twice in the poem. “But they were fucked up in their turn”. He is talking about our parents and possible grandparents. A definite theme in this poem is how bad society is. But it is also very personal. “They fill you up with the faults they had, and add some extra, just for you”. This gives it a personal feeling, something you can relate to, and think about. One of Larkin’s strengths is comedy, is this poem its sarcasm. He uses the rhyme scheme to great effect in this sense. It has a beat, and takes a satirical way to think about it in the end and gives us a suggestion, “don’t have any kids yourself”, as to not pass any of these faults to your children.
Another poetic device Larkin uses here is alliteration. “Man hands on misery to man”. This also helps with the sharp beat to the poem.
Sam Hollis from United Kingdom
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This is one of my favourite poems. I am not a scholar and have not studied poetry but I believe it to be very true, parents do 'fuck you up' although generally not intentionally, as I am now a parent I can see even more truth in it. The use of the 'bad word' is very descriptive and I don't think he could have got his point across so well with the use of something different. This poem is direct, gritty and marvelous in it's simplicity.
S. S. from United Kingdom