Obscenity

Obscenities like the word “fuck” function on a symbolic level in the poem as a representation of the shocking and yet mundane ways in which one’s parents damage their upbringing. By making such a taboo yet commonplace swear word the second word of the poem, so that it appears to be a fundamental part of “The Verse” to which the title alludes, Larkin sets the tone and defines the project of the entire poem. “Fuck” (1) and “fucked” (5) are the principal verbs that define the relationship between child and parents in the poem, illustrating at once how obscene and shocking that relationship can be, while at the same time highlighting how routine such dysfunctional family dynamics are.

Fools

“Fools,” Larkin’s term of choice for referring to one’s grandparents, symbolizes the idiotic nature of previous generations. These “fools in old-style hats and coats” (6) were so...