"This Be The Verse" is a lyric poem in three verses of four iambic tetrameter on an alternating rhyme scheme, by the English poet Philip Larkin (1922–1985). It was written around April 1971, first published in the August 1971 issue of New Humanist, and appeared in the 1974 collection High Windows. The title also ironically recalls the recurring phrase in the Old Testament threatening the sins of the father against his sons: "for I the Lord, thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me" [Exodus 20:5]. Larkin parodies the divine threat by rewriting the deliberate retribution of an angry vengeful God as the tragic shortcomings of "your mum and …show more content…
Yet Larkin incorporates it almost immediately into his poem. I can think of four possible reasons why. Firstly, words such as *censored* quickly and easily grab the audiences attention. This is similar to yelling sex in a crowded marketplace, everyone wants to know what is being discussed. Also, words like *censored* prepare the audience for a humorous bit of poetry, and this perks the audience's attention, and lets them know off the bat that this will not be another long and boring verse. Secondly, words such as *censored* produce an atmosphere for adults, or mature people. One term that is used quite extensively lately is adult language. This term branches off of the common idea that children should and would not use such words until they are older and have a more concrete knowledge of what they are really saying. Thus, by using a word such as *censored*, Larkin creates a poem that will most likely not be read to children. Also, such a poem would not be read at certain social gatherings (i.e. church meetings) where such words are considered unacceptable, further narrowing the audience for this poem. That brings me to my third point: that the people who read such a poem know, whether consciously or not, that they are in a distinct group, and that this poem was written for them. This allows Larkin to establish a closeness with his readers, now that they know that he is writing for them. This also implies to the reader that Larkin is one of them, that he
The poem is separated into two parts, each with sixteen lines, and is loosely based on an iambic pentameter metre. The rhyme scheme is ABAB throughout the poem, with the noticeable exception of the last four lines of part II, in which it changes to
The poem is formed of eight stanzas, each one is six lines long except for the fifth stanza which is an octet. The stanzas are formed of sets of three rhyming couplets in the
The poem does not follow a rhyme scheme or meter, which means that there is rhythm in the poem and it makes the poem more like a song. The poem has four stanza’s and has five lines within each stanza.
To help Year Twelve students that are studying poetry appreciate it's value, this pamphlet's aim is to discuss a classic poem and a
Through my studies of this poem, I was unable to find any documentation of the poet, Jim Stevens; therefore I was unable to assess his life and his reasoning behind writing this poem. Because of this I have had to make my own assumption that Jim Stevens might be writing this poem about himself. His lack of publication leaves a
Throughout the poem, there is heavy use of metaphor for “poem”. For example, in the first stanza, “I ask them to
In a world in which abortion is considered either a woman's right or a sin against God, the poem "The Mother" by Gwendolyn Brooks gives a voice to a mother lamenting her aborted children through three stanzas in which a warning is given to mothers, an admission of guilt is made, and an apology to the dead is given. The poet-speaker, the mother, as part of her memory addresses the children that she "got that [she] did not get" (2). The shift in voice from stanza to stanza allows Brooks to capture the grief associated with an abortion by not condemning her actions, nor excusing them; she merely grieves for what might have been. The narrator's longing and regret over the children she will never have is highlighted by the change in tone
The poem talks about a man- an anonymous “he”- a perfectionist whose poetry was understandable and who, himself, understood “human folly” and the human psyche like “the back of his hand”. He was
poem is not merely a static, decorative creation, but that it is an act of communication between the poet and
The poem is structured with 26 lines and each line is of nearly equal length. There is fluidity
“The relationship between the energies of the inquiring mind that an intelligent reader brings to the poem and the poem’s refusal to yield a single comprehensive interpretation enacts vividly the everlasting intercourse between the human mind, with its instinct to organise and harmonise, and the baffling powers of the universe about it.”
In the next stanza, he starts to compare his life to other’s. He mentions how he heard that one man “walked out on the whole crowd”, and this leaves him feeling uncomfortable. It is not normal for someone to go against the majority, and Larkin acknowledges that. However, the author later says “Surely I can, if he did?”. Now we know that the anxious feeling Larkin had was actually restlessness, and maybe jealousy too. He wants to defy the norm, and do things his own way, yet something is holding him back. He knows that he could do it if he tried, but he fails to take action. Perhaps, just the reassuring thought of “I am capable of doing my own thing” is enough for him; just like how we
(146) Larkin thus gives the impression that the reality of life as it presents itself to him falls blatantly short of what he expected. This disillusionment is particularly prominent when it comes to an assessment of what he has, or rather has not, achieved so far in life. More than once Larkin indicates the feeling that his lifetime passes unused. He talks about 'time/
The form of ‘God’s Grandeur’ is an Italian sonnet, but with some alteration. Even though Hopkins does not use sprung rhythm here, he varies his sonnet structure from the traditional iambic pentameter. Typically, a sonnet contains 3 quatrains (4 lines) and a couplet (2 lines); the Italian sonnet is characterized by having 1 octave (8 lines) and 1 sestet (6 lines). In ‘God’s Grandeur’ a similar pattern is followed, however, Hopkins presents a technique he often employs in other works as well, that of using the octet to present a personal or a sensory experience and the octet in order to provide some reflection on the topic (Gardner 221).