This Be the Verse
This Be the Verse - meaning Summary
Inherited Damage and Choice
Larkin’s poem argues that familial damage is transmitted across generations: parents, often unintentionally, pass on their faults which are themselves inherited from earlier generations. The language is plain and blunt, compressing a long social history of character and conflict into a short, sardonic argument. The final injunction — to escape early and avoid parenthood — frames the poem as a darkly pragmatic warning about repeating inherited misery.
Read Complete AnalysesThey 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.
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