Philip Larkin: This Be the Verse

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Family: photographer unknown, c. 1955 (Ben Evans Recreation Program Collection, Seattle Municipal Archives)

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.   

    They may not mean to, but they do.   

They fill you with the faults they had

    And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn

    By fools in old-style hats and coats,   

Who half the time were soppy-stern

    And half at one another’s throats.

Man hands on misery to man.

    It deepens like a coastal shelf.

Get out as early as you can,

    And don’t have any kids yourself.

Philip Larkin (1922-1985): This Be the Verse, April [?] 1971, from High Windows, 1974

Trinity Street, Coventry: photo by allhails, c. 1949-50

At Bablake School, Coventry: photo by allhails, 24 March 1954

Sports Day prizes, Bablake School, Coventry, Although I secretly photographed most of the masters at Bablake, I think this is the only one I took of the Headmaster, Eric Seaborne (in the hat). He was a tyrant, feared by (almost) all, and there is no doubt that he would have confiscated my camera if I had been caught. As an example of the way he ruled the school, anyone found uttering a single word during morning assembly had a mandatory caning: photo by allhails, 27 May 1954

At break time, Bablake School, Coventry: photo by allhails, 25 June 1954

 

At Bablake School, Coventry. Soon after this photo was taken Smith (second from left) shot himself dead after an argument with his parents: photo by allhails, 27 May 1954

In Room 34, Bablake School, Coventry: photo by allhails, 17 December 1954

Bablake School, Coventry: A trip to Stratford. A strict moral code was ensured owing to the iron discipline wielded by the Headmaster, Mr Seaborne: photo by allhails, 3 May, 1955

At Coventry bus depot: photo by allhails, 16 May 1955

Bablake School, Coventry: Perkins and Weaver in a full and frank discussion: photo by allhails, 19 May 1955

Larking about in class, Bablake School, Coventry: photo by allhails, 20 May 1955

At Hearsall Common fairground, Coventry: photo by allhails, 30 May 1955

At Hearsall Common fairground, Coventry: photo by allhails, 30 May 1955

At the fair, Hearsall Common, Coventry: photo by allhails, 30 May 1955

At Hearsall Common fair, Coventry: photo by allhails, 4 June 1955

A quiet moment in Room 34, Bablake School, Coventry: photo by allhails, 17 December 1955

A quiet moment in class, Bablake School, Coventry: photo by allhails, c. July 1956

At Bablake School, Coventry. "Pip" Jones, one of the great characters in our school form: photo by allhails, c. July 1956

At Bablake School, Coventry: photo by allhails, mid-1957

At Bablake School, Coventry: photo by allhails, mid-1957

At Bablake School, Coventry: photo by allhails, mid-1957

Coventry:  photo by allhails, 13 April 1957

Under the wide and starry sky,
.Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
.And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you 'grave for me:
.Here he lies where he long'd to be;
Home is the sailor, home from sea,
.And the hunter home from the hill.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894): Requiem, 1880

Hull: photo by allhails, c. 28 August 1960

Philip Larkin, 1956: photographer unknown; image by John Brown, 24 July 2012

Philip Larkin with gin and tonic, c. 1961: photo by Rollie McKenna; image by Simon K, 23 September 2007

Harborview Trauma Center: photographer unknown, 1999 (Fleets and Facilities Department Imagebank Collection, Seattle Municipal Archives)