[personal profile] always_succesful
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.

Date: 2012-01-16 12:36 am (UTC)
From: [personal profile] schmancy
This an interesting view point. I'm on the fence of whether this is a great piece of literature or not. I agree with you that he simply is just pointing out the simple role of "cause and effect" in our upbringing by our parents. But at its core, this really is a large part of human nature and I think he does help create the question of whether this is a cycle doomed to repeat itself or if it can be broken. Maybe in Larkin's view this will keep happening, but he does make me wonder if this concept really is set in stone.

Is it possible for great literature to purely be something that provokes thought into something we normally don't think about in our daily lives?

Date: 2012-01-16 01:32 am (UTC)
From: [personal profile] havensaregna
I agree when you mention that the poem doesn’t cause people to reflect upon their lives. That it is in fact a universal theme but doesn’t deliver much more than restating a common observation. I think that in order for something to be deemed great literature it should bring new insight or a new perspective to a common issue, and this poem doesn’t extend too far beyond the obvious.

Date: 2012-01-23 06:27 am (UTC)
From: [personal profile] nikkia
I totally agree the when you that wrote the poem doesnt cause people to reflect upon their lives.

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