Or, as Philip Larkin jokingly had it: They f__k you up, your mum and dad / They may not mean to, but they do / They fill you with the faults they had / And add

Or, as Philip Larkin jokingly had it: They f__k 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 f__ked 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.