Philip Larkin was one of the best-known and most lauded English poets of the late 20th Century, but this is probably his most famous and oft-quoted poem (read a bit about its history here).
This Be The Verse
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.
Too true. But I forgot and had a kid. There are joys, too, despite the above.
hah! my students are writing an exam tomorrow (I teach poetry) and this is one of the texts they will work on
Thanks for the link to the history of the poem, Becky. That’s the best wikipedia article I’ve ever read.