Philip Larkin (1922-1985) is undoubtedly one of the greatest English poets of the post-war period, and certainly the most popular. Despite being a recluse, he managed to establish himself as the most authentic and robust voice of his generation. The volume at hand contains fifty poems, an extensive selection not only from the four collections published by Larkin during his lifetime, but also from his unpublished works. Among these poems are some of the most well-known and memorable, such as "An Arundel Tomb," "High Windows," "This Be the Verse," "Annus Mirabilis," and "Aubade." Larkin's poems are distinguished by their tight structure, their skillful craftsmanship - the ingenious use of enjambment in a completely natural and unforced way - their stoic humor, which often turns into merciless self-deprecation, and their profound skepticism, which borders on extreme pessimism. As another important poet, American Robert Lowell, notes, "Larkin's poetry makes other poets seem outdated. He was a renewer of the poetic art. No technique or poetic school could have given his words such devastating power." In addition to poems, Larkin published two novels, a volume of essays on jazz, and served as the editor of the anthology The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse (1973), a work that reveals Larkin's strong love for the poetry of W.B. Yeats, Thomas Hardy, and W.H. Auden. He has rightly been called "the most English of English poets," as many of his poems criticize the customs of his country, but at the same time praise the uniqueness of its cultural tradition. "Larkin is a tender observer of life." - JOHN BETJEMAN "Even those who do not particularly love poetry will discover in Larkin's poems the elements that offer both great pleasure and consolation." - X. J. KENNEDY "Larkin's poems, when seen as a whole, reveal the evolution of a leading poet who never stopped experimenting, renewing his material, rejecting anything superfluous, and creating." - ANTHONY THWAITE "Larkin is not a lover of nature. Nature is important to him because it offers him the opportunity to deeply analyze the human condition." - ANDREW MOTION