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4.5: Phillip Larkin's "This Be The Verse"

  • Page ID
    194165
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    Directions

    Here, you will find Phillip Larkin's "This Be The Verse"

    The poems are on a docx. file. I recommend either printing it our or annotating the digital copy on your computer, or taking notes on the story on a separate piece of paper.

    Author's Bio:

    Philip Larkin is most famous for his poetry. He was born in 1922 in Coventry, England. He was an English poet, Jazz Critic, and novelist. He was also a librarian at the University of Hull.

    Creative Commons

    Pantheon by Datawheel

    Links to an external site. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

    Links to an external site..

    While reading the poem, keep these questions/ideas in mind:

    • While reading this poem, reflect on what type of theme or message that jumps out to you?
    • List the themes
    • Then, begin to note and list the different use of poetic and literary devices in the poem
    • What about these devices makes you feel this way?
    • What does the poem mean to you??
    • What is the author's tone? Are they being critical of their parents or of just parenting in general?
    • What do you think about the use of curse words?
    • How did the use of rhyme contribute/not contribute to the overall theme of the piece?
    • Did you like the poem? Why or why not?

    Essay Topic

    As a reminder, your essay topic is:

    Do a close read of the poem. What is one overall theme/message that you see in the text? What are the literary/poetic devices that you see that are enhancing said theme/message?

    "This Be The Verse" by Larkin.docx

    Philip Larkin, "This Be the Verse" from Collected Poems. Copyright © Estate of Philip Larkin. Reprinted by permission of Faber and Faber, Ltd.
    Source: Collected Poems (Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2001)

    4.5: Phillip Larkin's "This Be The Verse" is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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