Week one, Quetsion one, Part one

The poem "This Be the Verse," does not fit the criteria for “great literature” because it does increase the awareness of the reader and nor does it cause them to reflect upon their lives. Philip Larkin is writing about a universal theme that we are all familiar with, children and their relationship with their parents. We can all relate to this because we are all children and most of us are or either will be parents. We all know from our childhood experiences that the traits of our parents, both good and bad, were passed down to us consciously and subconsciously. This is apparent if one has ever compared themselves to their parents. This leads to the point said in the third verse of the poem, “Man hands one misery to man.” If one was to move past the literal meaning of this line, one would see that Philip is referring to the dysfunctionality of the common household family. Depressed, frustrated and angry parents hand down their ignorant and biased views down to their children which, in turn, creates a similar attitude in them. This can also go the other way. As for children with poor attitudes and control issues create a poor and stressful atmosphere in the family household that can cause the parents to become miserable i.e. “Man hands one misery to man.” Philip ends the poem with “And don’t have any kids yourself.” All of the points of he mentions in this poem are about the cause and effect of the relationships of children and their parents, which is obvious to anyone who has observed his or her own family or that of anothers. We all know that if we take an action, it will have consequences. It is for this reason that this poem does not constitute as “great literature.” For this poem goes about stating the obvious about the laws of cause and effect.