Philip Larkin

Philip Larkin has been named as  Britain's best-loved post-war poet but his work has been described as dour, glum, pessimistic, full of discontent and sad.  However, I have to include This be the Verse in my collection.

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.

The second line of the last verse has really caught my attention.  Looking for a rhyme for 'yourself, in a line with eight syllables, the best he can come up with is 'It deepens like a coastal shelf.'  Really?

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