Is it time for my blort? I like the parody, Larkin not so much. Skill? Enough. Joy? Not enough. He’s less than Dryden by far. By far. Less than Frost — who for some reason, seldom lights up for me. (A few, a few.) In different words and less trenchantly, I agree with Mandelbaum here. Larkin is like sledding down a rocky hill with not enough snow. Sledding, yet could be so much better. (Like me at my clunkiest?) That parody is a hoot. Hoot! Hah.
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