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11-25-2009, 11:57 AM
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Boston, MA
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Larkin's Mop and Pop
I seem to recall a thread a long time ago about "This Be the Verse," and whether or not it could be considered light verse. Well, this article is evidence that the poem was at least more tongue-in-cheek than some readers were willing to believe.
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11-25-2009, 12:05 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Northern New Jersey
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I'm not sure loving one's mum and pup
ever precluded their f***ing you up.
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11-25-2009, 12:16 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: New York
Posts: 16,499
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A loving pup and loving mum
portend the f**cked up man to come
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11-25-2009, 12:17 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 528
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I've always thought of This Be the Verse as a tender and loving tribute to his parents.
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11-25-2009, 03:06 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Queensland, (was Sydney) Australia
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I loved my parents and they certainly f####ed me up. Loving one's parents has nothing to do with the rest of the statement. Of course he told his mother that having children was worth while. That's what one says to all mothers. And fathers come to think of it.
Truth exists on many levels as does humour.
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11-27-2009, 09:42 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: New York, NY, USA
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The poem is a hoot, was intended as a hoot, and continues to be ... a hoot.
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11-27-2009, 09:56 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Denver
Posts: 317
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What is gained by substituting "&&&" and "###" for "uck"? Do you clothe your piano legs with bloomers? Do you insist that guests refer to legs, thighs, and breasts as dark meat and light? Do you refer to pregnancy as "an interesting condition"?
I can see insisting on "screw" or "mess" as substitutions in the sentence "&*#! you up"--it's childish, but I do see what interests are being served--but "f***ing" doesn't even disguise itself: it just advertises its prudery.
RHE
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11-27-2009, 10:26 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Sweden
Posts: 14,175
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I think people are just trying to be good buddies and follow the rules of the community. We had a long and heated discussion on this topic some months ago. Asterisks are a commendable show of good will.
Richard, I think not everybody knows what is l**kung in a euphemistic f**k.
But I may be wrong because I was convinced everyone did put bloomers on their piano l*gs. Are you trying to tell me that some gross persons f**king don't?
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11-27-2009, 10:27 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Berkeley, CA, USA
Posts: 3,140
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Epstein
What is gained by substituting "&&&" and "###" for "uck"? Do you clothe your piano legs with bloomers? Do you insist that guests refer to legs, thighs, and breasts as dark meat and light? Do you refer to pregnancy as "an interesting condition"?
I can see insisting on "screw" or "mess" as substitutions in the sentence "&*#! you up"--it's childish, but I do see what interests are being served--but "f***ing" doesn't even disguise itself: it just advertises its prudery.
RHE
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I think the idea is not prudish but practical: it helps keep unwanted spiders and crawlers away.
As for the Larkin poem, I have never understood it as a programmatic pronouncement against childbearing, but an exceptionally eloquent expression of a sentiment many, many people can relate to from time to time.
David R.
Last edited by David Rosenthal; 11-27-2009 at 10:30 AM.
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11-27-2009, 02:28 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Queensland, (was Sydney) Australia
Posts: 15,574
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Richard, regarding those piano legs, I agree with you that it is preferable to call a spade a spade. I was observing the rules.
Kate, there is a lot more than "hoot" to that poem. He means the joke, yes. But he also means the black and bitter things that most of us dare not think or say. That's why we take Larkin seriously.
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