Five years ago, it seems, someone was wrong on the internet, and I am now here to make the needed correction. It seems that if you google the phrase (without quotes) "get out as early as you can", one of the top results is this essay. I do not know the author's other work. It may be that it is highly distinguished, I do not judge. But the idea that somehow Larkin's admonition to "get out" has something to do with . . . what, not calling your mom every Sunday? That is not quite the level of darkness, deepening like a coastal shelf, at stake. It's jaw-droppingly obtuse. Seriously, read that poem and notice how each line drops a step in tone. By the end, we're in Cumaean Sibyl territory, and this guy is making it sound like it's about getting one's first apartment. Sweet Jesus.
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