The Full Text of “This Be The Verse”
The Full Text of “This Be The Verse”
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“This Be The Verse” Introduction
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“This Be The Verse” Summary
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“This Be The Verse” Themes
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Parenting and Emotional Damage
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-12
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Misery and Suffering
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 9-12
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “This Be The Verse”
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Lines 1-2
They fuck you ...
... but they do. -
Lines 3-4
They fill you ...
... just for you. -
Lines 5-6
But they were ...
... hats and coats, -
Lines 7-8
Who half the ...
... one another’s throats. -
Lines 9-10
Man hands on ...
... a coastal shelf. -
Lines 11-12
Get out as ...
... any kids yourself.
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“This Be The Verse” Symbols
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The Coastal Shelf
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Line 10: “coastal shelf”
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“This Be The Verse” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Anaphora
Where anaphora appears in the poem:- Line 1: “They”
- Line 2: “They”
- Line 3: “They”
- Line 7: “Who half”
- Line 8: “And half ”
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Assonance
Where assonance appears in the poem:- Line 1: “fuck,” “up,” “mum”
- Line 2: “They,” “may,” “to,” “they,” “do”
- Line 3: “you,” “had”
- Line 4: “add”
- Line 5: “fucked,” “up”
- Line 6: “old,” “hats,” “coats”
- Line 7: “half,” “were,” “stern”
- Line 8: “half,” “at,” “one,” “another’s”
- Line 9: “Man,” “hands,” “misery,” “man”
- Line 10: “deepens”
- Line 11: “as,” “as,” “can”
- Line 12: “And,” “have,” “any”
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Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 2: “may,” “mean”
- Line 3: “fill,” “faults”
- Line 5: “they,” “fucked,” “their”
- Line 6: “fools,” “hats”
- Line 7: “Who,” “half,” “soppy,” “stern”
- Line 8: “half”
- Line 9: “Man,” “misery,” “man”
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Caesura
Where caesura appears in the poem:- Line 1: “up, your”
- Line 2: “to, but”
- Line 4: “extra, just”
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Consonance
Where consonance appears in the poem:- Line 1: “you,” “your,” “mum,” “dad”
- Line 2: “may,” “mean”
- Line 3: “They,” “fill,” “with,” “the,” “faults,” “they,” “had”
- Line 4: “And,” “add,” “some,” “extra,” “just”
- Line 5: “fucked”
- Line 6: “fools,” “old,” “style,” “hats,” “coats”
- Line 7: “Who,” “half,” “time,” “soppy,” “stern”
- Line 8: “And,” “half,” “one,” “another’s,” “throats”
- Line 9: “Man,” “hands,” “on,” “misery,” “man”
- Line 10: “deepens,” “coastal,” “shelf”
- Line 11: “Get,” “out,” “early,” “can”
- Line 12: “And,” “don’t,” “any,” “kids,” “yourself”
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End-Stopped Line
Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:- Line 1: “dad.”
- Line 2: “do.”
- Line 3: “had”
- Line 4: “you.”
- Line 5: “turn”
- Line 6: “coats,”
- Line 7: “soppy-stern”
- Line 8: “throats.”
- Line 9: “man.”
- Line 10: “shelf.”
- Line 11: “can,”
- Line 12: “yourself.”
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Epanalepsis
Where epanalepsis appears in the poem:- Line 9: “Man hands on misery to man.”
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Simile
Where simile appears in the poem:- Line 10: “It deepens like a coastal shelf.”
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“This Be The Verse” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Faults
- Soppy-Stern
- Misery
- Coastal Shelf
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(Location in poem: Line 3: “faults”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “This Be The Verse”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“This Be The Verse” Speaker
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“This Be The Verse” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “This Be The Verse”
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More “This Be The Verse” Resources
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External Resources
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Zoe Wanamaker Reads the Poem — Watch the British actor Zoe Wanamaker read "This Be The Verse" aloud.
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Larkin's Life — For more information about Philip Larkin, take a look at this brief overview of his life and work.
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The Poet's Voice — Listen to Philip Larkin himself read "This Be The Verse."
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The Paris Review Interview — Check out Philip Larkin's interview with The Paris Review, which was published in 1982 as part of the magazine's "The Art of Poetry" series.
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Portrait of the Artist — Take a look at the six portraits of Philip Larkin that exist in the National Portrait Gallery's online archive.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Philip Larkin
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