Language and style

The language and the style of the poem “This Be the Verse” by Phillip Larkin should be important elements in your analysis, as they can enhance your overall understanding of the lyrical text.

Playing with the language

Phillip Larkin is very straightforward in this poem, but we can still identify some instances in which he plays with language.

First of all, the title is very ambiguous because it seems unrelated to the poem itself. However, the title is actually a reference to another poem by Robert Louis Stevenson titled “Requiem” in which he uses the expression “this be the verse” to refer to the speaker’s epitaph upon his desired death. As such, the title of Larkin’s poem should be connected with line 15 in his poem “Get out as early as you can”, which is actually a suicide recommendation for the readers.

The author also plays with language in the first line by associating the strong slang, vulgar expression “fuck you up” (l. 3) with a sweet reference to “mom and dad” (l. 3). Then, he employs a lot of figurative speech, calling the parents’ parents “fools” (l. 9) or “soppy-stern” (l. 10). In fact, ‘soppy-stern’ is a compound adverb, most likely invented by the poet to depict the past generation as emotionally rigid and unaware, as if they were drunk.

Another instance in which the author plays with language is when he talks of the “coastal shelf” to pinpoint the never ending cycle of...