poetry spam

Apr 19, 2007 03:06

I'm far too overwhelmed right now to blog a poem a day like so many wonderful people are doing, but I do want so share one every now and then.  I'm in a strange mood and I'm teaching The Whitsun Weddings tomorrow, so here's a lovely one from Larkin:

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 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.

poem

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