A Study Of Reading Habits
When getting my nose in a book
Cured most things short of school,
It was worth ruining my eyes
To know I could still keep cool,
And deal out the old right hook
To dirty dogs twice my size.
Later, with inch-thick specs,
Evil was just my lark:
Me and my cloak and fangs
Had ripping times in the dark.
The women I clubbed with sex!
I broke them up like meringues.
Don't read much now: the dude
Who lets the girl down before
The hero arrives, the chap
Who's yellow and keeps the store
Seem far too familiar. Get stewed:
Books are a load of crap.
2 comments:
It has been a while since I read Larkin’s work. I remember being puzzled by this one the first time around. I still think it is something of an odd, but perhaps brilliant, mix of irony, wit and character examination.
Brian,
I think I would agree - so I would change the last line to
"Some books are a load of crap." A much more serious and beautiful poem of his that I love is "MCMXIV".
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