A Poem by Philip Larkin: "This Be the Verse"

I've been holding back from posting this poem for, well, weeks it feels like.  This is, for me, an oldie and a goodie. Lines from it float through my head fairly regularly, especially now that I'm a parent myself.  And it's one of the few poems that I can practically recite from memory.  Best use of the ef word in a poem, too.

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This Be the Verse

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.