Part 1: Larkin's "This Be Verse"

“This Be the Verse” by Phillip Larkin is an introspective poem describing the hatred he once had for his parents which the majority of the population can relate too. However, because the definition of “great literature” is based on each person’s perspective, determining whether a poem is considered to be a “great literature” can be controversial. To my understanding, “great literature” usually revolves around a novel length story, either non-fiction or having relations to actual events. Though “This Be the Verse” is not a novel but a short poem and it holds truth. From the sarcastic but sadistic tone, the poet writes of how parents doom their own children by their antiquated ideals and fail to raise the children righteously. Larkin then concludes by warning the reader not to bear children themselves. Parenting is a sensitive topic most will never express out loud or on paper, thus categorizing this poem to be “great”. The poem’s other “greatness” comes from the author’s ability to attract a wide audience. Usually profanity and “mum and dad” collide, and is never used in the same sentence, but Larkin uses this to an advantage. The poet also keeps his readers’ attention by writing on a topic people are able to relate to, the troubles between the parents and children, a “universal theme”, rather, a “great literature”.