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Poems for a World Gone to Sh*t
A beautiful little book of short, simple, classic and contemporary poems to dip into, to make life feel better.
From Shakespeare and Shelley to Lemn Sissay and Kate Tempest, poets have always been the best at showing us we're not alone, however sh*t things might seem.
Funny, reflective, romantic and life-affirming - here is an anthology of poems to remind you to keep on looking at the stars: from that first 'what the f*ck' moment to empowering you to do something about this sh*t and ultimately realising that life is still beautiful after all.
Rediscover old favourites and find some new treasures - you might be surprised just how much poetry can help.
From Shakespeare and Shelley to Lemn Sissay and Kate Tempest, poets have always been the best at showing us we're not alone, however sh*t things might seem.
Funny, reflective, romantic and life-affirming - here is an anthology of poems to remind you to keep on looking at the stars: from that first 'what the f*ck' moment to empowering you to do something about this sh*t and ultimately realising that life is still beautiful after all.
Rediscover old favourites and find some new treasures - you might be surprised just how much poetry can help.
143 pages, Hardcover
First published March 8, 2018
55 people are currently reading
2169 people want to read
About the author
Philip Larkin
141 books696 followersPhilip Arthur Larkin, CH, CBE, FRSL, was an English poet, novelist and jazz critic. He spent his working life as a university librarian and was offered the Poet Laureateship following the death of John Betjeman, but declined the post. Larkin is commonly regarded as one of the greatest English poets of the latter half of the twentieth century. He first came to prominence with the release of his third collection The Less Deceived in 1955. The Whitsun Weddings and High Windows followed in 1964 and 1974. In 2003 Larkin was chosen as "the nation's best-loved poet" in a survey by the Poetry Book Society, and in 2008 The Times named Larkin as the greatest post-war writer.
Larkin was born in city of Coventry, England, the only son and younger child of Sydney Larkin (1884–1948), city treasurer of Coventry, who came from Lichfield, and his wife, Eva Emily Day (1886–1977), of Epping. From 1930 to 1940 he was educated at King Henry VIII School in Coventry, and in October 1940, in the midst of the Second World War, went up to St John's College, Oxford, to read English language and literature. Having been rejected for military service because of his poor eyesight, Larkin was able, unlike many of his contemporaries, to follow the traditional full-length degree course, taking a first-class degree in 1943. Whilst at Oxford he met Kingsley Amis, who would become a lifelong friend and frequent correspondent. Shortly after graduating he was appointed municipal librarian at Wellington, Shropshire. In 1946, he became assistant librarian at University College, Leicester and in 1955 sub-librarian at Queen's University, Belfast. In March 1955, Larkin was appointed librarian at The University of Hull, a position he retained until his death.
Larkin was born in city of Coventry, England, the only son and younger child of Sydney Larkin (1884–1948), city treasurer of Coventry, who came from Lichfield, and his wife, Eva Emily Day (1886–1977), of Epping. From 1930 to 1940 he was educated at King Henry VIII School in Coventry, and in October 1940, in the midst of the Second World War, went up to St John's College, Oxford, to read English language and literature. Having been rejected for military service because of his poor eyesight, Larkin was able, unlike many of his contemporaries, to follow the traditional full-length degree course, taking a first-class degree in 1943. Whilst at Oxford he met Kingsley Amis, who would become a lifelong friend and frequent correspondent. Shortly after graduating he was appointed municipal librarian at Wellington, Shropshire. In 1946, he became assistant librarian at University College, Leicester and in 1955 sub-librarian at Queen's University, Belfast. In March 1955, Larkin was appointed librarian at The University of Hull, a position he retained until his death.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
May 24, 2018
I’m ridiculously pessimistic and I hate this spinning orb of gloom so I loved this book. I loved the sweary aspect especially as somebody who swears like a fucking sailor. It was also really uplifting towards the end with poems to rally the reader into protest, overall such a good collection and I’m glad I picked it up.
November 29, 2020
Angelou, Dickinson, Gibran, Larkin, Shakespeare, Whitman, and more. This book is split into four sections: What the f**k?, Get me the f**k out of here, Keep your sh*t together, Let’s do something about this sh*t and Life is still f**king beautiful.
This collection of life-affirming poems is only 141 pages long. There are small poems surrounded by plenty of blank space and longer poems that take up more space. Their life-affirming effect is still the same, regardless.
I will return to it to find comfort in this mad world we are living in.
This collection of life-affirming poems is only 141 pages long. There are small poems surrounded by plenty of blank space and longer poems that take up more space. Their life-affirming effect is still the same, regardless.
I will return to it to find comfort in this mad world we are living in.
September 2, 2018
Note: this is an anthology, NOT a book by Philip Larkin. Of course, his poem "This Be The Verse" is the first one in the book -- those who read "Little Fires Everywhere" may remember that this poem is mentioned there. Anyway, what the world needs now is poetry, and this book provides a useful selection. Tried to give it to a few friends in the US, but unfortunately not yet available there.
September 18, 2018
Looks good as a novelty gift but quite a forgettable collection of poems, and a terrible 'introduction' as well. Punk kids might love this one.
March 23, 2018
The babest of babes gave this to me and of course that just about made everything even better about this.
As always in anthologies there are poems of all kinds (slight euphemism for the spectrum of bad to great), though I must say there was a high percentage in here that I thought were really, really good - great publishing job Quercus!
Favourite one, which was actually also the first one I saw upon shuffling through the pages when I unwrapped it: Anne Brontë - The Consolation. So goood.
Gonna cherish this.
♥
As always in anthologies there are poems of all kinds (slight euphemism for the spectrum of bad to great), though I must say there was a high percentage in here that I thought were really, really good - great publishing job Quercus!
Favourite one, which was actually also the first one I saw upon shuffling through the pages when I unwrapped it: Anne Brontë - The Consolation. So goood.
Gonna cherish this.
♥
January 1, 2025
I suppose one good thing about this book is that it is likely to draw in people who do not yet know that poetry is powerful medicine and can save your life. However I didn’t much like it - there are, to my mind, far better anthologies out there eg The Staying Alive trilogy. Plus I really don’t like poetry and sh*t used in the same sentence never mind the same book title. As for Philip Larkin being the accredited author, now that IS sh*t!!
December 24, 2018
This book is a combination of several quoted poems from different sources. It divided into five main chapters. The most favourite chapter was the last one, as this one was concentrated into life poems. I do recommended to those who liked to read some quoted poems. However, it was not as much as I expected based on the recommendations.
Read
February 8, 2020first ever poem book i’ve read.
this is a collection so its hard to rate
i did not understood half of the poems, but that may be bc im not used to reading them.
would i recommend? not for people who are getting into poems
this is a collection so its hard to rate
i did not understood half of the poems, but that may be bc im not used to reading them.
would i recommend? not for people who are getting into poems
March 15, 2019
far behind my expectations.
April 10, 2022
Fun poetry collection which included some of my all time favourites. I admit, I expected more originals from Larkin and had hoped for more that were decidedly funnier and cheekier given the names for the parts of the collection but, alas, we don’t always get what we want.
September 8, 2019
— 3.75 / 5 stars ✨ —
July 23, 2018
As the title describes, this is a short collection of poetry from various writers and eras, on themes such as loss, regret, frustration, hope and peace. I recognised a good number of them, but the ones I didn't know so well were generally good and well-written (even if only a few really spoke to me). I was given this by a friend, and I'm happy to have read it, if only to discover a few verses I hadn't encountered before. It's light, and several entries are extracts from much longer works, but it's fine. It put a smile on my face.
May 25, 2018
Ended much stronger than it started, some gems in this anthology!
March 8, 2019
Great little diverse collection, read it in one go. Would have liked less abridged versions of some of the poems but other than that, loved it.
December 31, 2020
A topical read for 2020.
This is a nice wee hardback, containing plenty of poems you've probably read if you're a literature nerd, and some by authors you've never heard about before. I read this as part of a Creative Writing class in which we hardly ever did any poetry writing--strikes me as strange, but I shan't complain. Though I love poetry--especially the structured poetry whose heyday is long since past--I am not all too gifted in writing it.
Get it--it can't possibly make things worse, can it?
This is a nice wee hardback, containing plenty of poems you've probably read if you're a literature nerd, and some by authors you've never heard about before. I read this as part of a Creative Writing class in which we hardly ever did any poetry writing--strikes me as strange, but I shan't complain. Though I love poetry--especially the structured poetry whose heyday is long since past--I am not all too gifted in writing it.
Get it--it can't possibly make things worse, can it?
September 18, 2021
4.5 stars
October 13, 2021
This was just fun. Makes me wanna read more poetry.
December 30, 2022
Possibly not my type of poetry but felt it would be more contemporary with the title. Felt some poems just didn't flow into one another or match the chapter titles.
January 1, 2022
No tengo mucho que decir de este libro. Simplemente se trata de una recopilación de poemas cortos y fragmentos de diversos autores -actuales y no tanto- que giran entorno a distintas fases de la vida, como la aceptación, el resentimiento, el hecho de ser consciente del mundo en el que vivimos no es lo esperado, la resignación o el positivismo, es decir, que aunque todo a nuestro alrededor parezca una mierda, aún hay esperanza. Al leerlo, pensé encontrarme con algo bastante distinto, por lo que ha sido un libro bastante decepcionante y sin mucho que destacar.
June 3, 2020
Great read for today's climate.
May 7, 2019
happy the man (from a translation of horace's odes)
~john dryden
Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He who can call today his own:
He who, secure within, can say,
Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.
~john dryden
Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He who can call today his own:
He who, secure within, can say,
Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.
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May 1, 2019
A good collection.
October 13, 2025
This incredible collection of poems published by Quercus comes with the best introductory page I have ever read. Considering the state of our world, I feel like every person should own a copy of this collection unless they are sensitive to a small amount of censored vulgarity.
If just like me you are questioning how a collection of poems could be of any help to the hell of a world we live in, take my word when I say it definitely answers that question. Yet while answering that, it creates a powerful dialogue on what the world has come to be using a series of poems scrutinising the world itself.
This incredible little book has the vast majority of my favourite writers ranging from the classics to the contemporary and you get the best out of the two worlds and the in-between with this collection. Really, just look at that list of writers, it’s astonishing! All of these incredibly skilled writers combined have created an uplifting masterpiece in a world of hopelessness and violence. This is the type of books we need right now.
Honestly no words do this collection any justice, and I refuse to quote any of the contents because reading this was a truly enjoyable and entertaining experience. Everything about this collection is perfect.
If just like me you are questioning how a collection of poems could be of any help to the hell of a world we live in, take my word when I say it definitely answers that question. Yet while answering that, it creates a powerful dialogue on what the world has come to be using a series of poems scrutinising the world itself.
This incredible little book has the vast majority of my favourite writers ranging from the classics to the contemporary and you get the best out of the two worlds and the in-between with this collection. Really, just look at that list of writers, it’s astonishing! All of these incredibly skilled writers combined have created an uplifting masterpiece in a world of hopelessness and violence. This is the type of books we need right now.
Honestly no words do this collection any justice, and I refuse to quote any of the contents because reading this was a truly enjoyable and entertaining experience. Everything about this collection is perfect.
March 4, 2019
#2019 #YearInBooks Book 21
This collection of poems caught my eye at the Book Fair, and was thinking about buying it, but my friend who accompanied me gifted it instead. I think it was a very interesting book.
The poems are divided into five sections viz "what the f**k?" "get me the f**k out of here..." "keep your sh*t together" "let's do something about this sh*t" and "life is still f**king beautiful". The order makes sense, because first we're astounded and the disbelief wants us to run away from the moment, then calmness helps common sense to prevail and pushes us to do something about it and realize life ain't just thorns.
My favourite poems were from the poets TS Eliot and Wendy Cope. It made sense, even if it was a bit ominous. Each section has poems that make me contemplate, and I think poetry does do that so it's good. As with every book of poems I have read before, this too has ones I'll revisit. And some in the last section especially.
Over the years, I've had favourite books of poetry. This goes right into that list.
This collection of poems caught my eye at the Book Fair, and was thinking about buying it, but my friend who accompanied me gifted it instead. I think it was a very interesting book.
The poems are divided into five sections viz "what the f**k?" "get me the f**k out of here..." "keep your sh*t together" "let's do something about this sh*t" and "life is still f**king beautiful". The order makes sense, because first we're astounded and the disbelief wants us to run away from the moment, then calmness helps common sense to prevail and pushes us to do something about it and realize life ain't just thorns.
My favourite poems were from the poets TS Eliot and Wendy Cope. It made sense, even if it was a bit ominous. Each section has poems that make me contemplate, and I think poetry does do that so it's good. As with every book of poems I have read before, this too has ones I'll revisit. And some in the last section especially.
Over the years, I've had favourite books of poetry. This goes right into that list.
January 20, 2019
La selección está bien, pero la verdad es que es un libro muy cortito. Más aún de lo que parece porque literalmente la mitad de las páginas están en blanco. Esto en la edición en kindle, que ya es de por sí penosa*, es un poco un incordio porque no sabes si es una de las páginas en blanco o que está tardando en cargarse la imagen.
También eché de menos la fecha de publicación de cada poema o el libro/obra donde se publicó originalmente, para tener un poco más de contexto. Pero aparte de eso, como digo, la selección está bien, algunos poemas de los que me gustaron no los conocía, otros sí. Personalmente, creo que se me queda un poco corto para lo que promete el título, pero por otro lado tampoco es que me haya salido cara la compra, fueron 4 euros. XD
*¿Un libro sin ilustraciones que se descarga como una imagen y no como texto seleccionable/adaptable? ¿En serio?
También eché de menos la fecha de publicación de cada poema o el libro/obra donde se publicó originalmente, para tener un poco más de contexto. Pero aparte de eso, como digo, la selección está bien, algunos poemas de los que me gustaron no los conocía, otros sí. Personalmente, creo que se me queda un poco corto para lo que promete el título, pero por otro lado tampoco es que me haya salido cara la compra, fueron 4 euros. XD
*¿Un libro sin ilustraciones que se descarga como una imagen y no como texto seleccionable/adaptable? ¿En serio?
January 1, 2021
My negative review is not a reflection on the quality of the included works but rather how this anthology has been compiled.
This anthology feels like it was thrown together very quickly. It’s arranged in loose themes such as “what the f**k” or “keep your sh*t together” but there’s no real flow from piece to piece. This problem isn’t helped by the second bit of writing in this poetry anthology being an extract from a play.
However my biggest issue with this collection is it’s over-reliance on fragments of poems rather than the poems themselves; Coleridges epic ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ is boiled down to two stanzas, Elliot’s ‘The Hollow Men’ to just one. It makes the anthology come across more as a quote book rather than a legitimate collection of poetry.
This anthology feels like it was thrown together very quickly. It’s arranged in loose themes such as “what the f**k” or “keep your sh*t together” but there’s no real flow from piece to piece. This problem isn’t helped by the second bit of writing in this poetry anthology being an extract from a play.
However my biggest issue with this collection is it’s over-reliance on fragments of poems rather than the poems themselves; Coleridges epic ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ is boiled down to two stanzas, Elliot’s ‘The Hollow Men’ to just one. It makes the anthology come across more as a quote book rather than a legitimate collection of poetry.
April 7, 2018
Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free.
I was super excited to get stuck into this collection based upon its title alone. And to be fair to it, I did think it was okay, and it was a reasonable collection of both classical and contemporary poetry. I guess the main problem that I had is that it’s basically the same set of poems that I’ve seen in other collections like Deborah Alma’s Emergency Poet books. There was also a lot of blank space.
Overall, it was fine, but I think the best thing about it is its title. It would make a good novelty gift, I guess.
I was super excited to get stuck into this collection based upon its title alone. And to be fair to it, I did think it was okay, and it was a reasonable collection of both classical and contemporary poetry. I guess the main problem that I had is that it’s basically the same set of poems that I’ve seen in other collections like Deborah Alma’s Emergency Poet books. There was also a lot of blank space.
Overall, it was fine, but I think the best thing about it is its title. It would make a good novelty gift, I guess.
November 15, 2018
I really enjoyed this compendium/anthology of poetry set into five “ chapters” taking us from “WTF “to “Life is still f**king beautiful”. From horror to redemption with a whole mix of classic to recent poets. It definitely brought a smile to my face!
March 1, 2018
Review to follow.
March 3, 2018
Beautiful collection of some of the greatest poets 🌺
Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews