"This be the Verse" is primarily about filial relationships. The opening line expresses an underlying truth about hereditary influence. The poem continues to discuss traits passed on to children by parents, though unwittingly.

In the second quatrain, Larkin looks back further a generation at `the fools in old-style hats and coats' and their effect on their children, hence children's children. The final line of the poem is definitive, it highlights the moral, though cynical `Get out as early as you can / And don't have any kids yourself'.

"To the Sea" features a child's trip to the seaside with his parents. The poem can be seen as semi-autobiographical and Larkin is once again a peripheral observer in the midst of the holiday atmosphere. Larkin mentions `the rigid' old' who unlike the `uncertain children' are not malleable but conservative in their morals, similar to the theme in `This Be The Verse' where Larkin criticizes the inescapable peculiarities inherited from parents. However, in `To The Sea' Larkin initial appears favourable of the old and he overtly introduces the importance of `helping the old as you should'.