This Be The Verse (Sea éste el verso)

They fuck 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 fucked 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.

xxxxxxx

Mamá y papá te joden la cabeza.

Lo hacen sin intención, pero es así.

Te entregan los errores de su época

y añaden unos cuantos, para ti.

Pero a ellos los jodieron

viejos necios atildados

que cuando no estaban rígidos

se peleaban como gatos.

Heredamos la miseria

como zócalo marino.

Escapa lo antes que puedas

y no busques tener hijos.


Philip Larkin