@KenP (KenP) posted a new topic, subject "Philip Larkin poem about parents". It read:

   In the NYTimes magazine, March 25, there is a reference (on page 20) to “Philip Larkin's famous poem – the best bits are unprintable here – about how parents mess up their children: ‘They may not mean to, but they do./They fill you with the faults they had/And add some extra just for you.'”
    
    What is the poem?

@G.Nome (G. Nome) replied

    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.

After which, @London_Calling (London_Calling) added

    A couple of essays to aid a comprehension of Larkin:  
    http://www-polisci.mit.edu/BostonReview/BR21.5/burt.html \- on how he uses profanity  
    http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/summer99/philip.html \- on his wider influences.


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