My first encounter with Larkin was “This be the verse” which is at this point iconic in my opinion, but the one that resonated with me the most is perhaps not a

My first encounter with Larkin was “This be the verse” which is at this point iconic in my opinion, but the one that resonated with me the most is perhaps not as well known: “I remember, I remember”. I read it soon after having moved for work to the other side of the world and struggling with why I felt so empty. There’s many things to say about the poem, not least the for me very relatable disgust for your home town, but the final line hit me like a train when I read it: ‘Nothing, like something, happens anywhere.’ I remember feeling like an idiot. Of course I felt empty. What did I expect, that my life and me as a person would change just because I moved somewhere else? Others have interpreted this line cynically, but I don’t, except perhaps in a strict optimistically cynical way: you have the same capability of winning or failing, feeling good or bad, feeling included or excluded, anywhere. As the line right before it says: I suppose it’s not the place’s fault.