This Be The Verse Poem

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 was soppy - 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.