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A Study of Reading Habits by Philip Larkin

7/24/2008 6:17:45 AM
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Philip Larkin Philip Larkin
(1922 - 1985 / England)
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102 poems of Philip Larkin

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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 coat 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.

Philip Larkin


Read poems about / on: hero, school, evil, women, girl, dark, dog, woman

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Daphne Grant (12/13/2006 5:21:00 PM)
I honestly hope that Philip Larking has written this poem tounge in cheek. Books are and endless fascination, and everyone should have a monthly book allownace, what civiles world wouldn't?
Stephen Connolly (11/18/2005 1:54:00 PM)
Probably one of the darkest poems I've read. Yikes!

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7/24/2008 6:17:45 AM. You Are Here: A Study of Reading Habits by Philip Larkin

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