Larkin's final collection of poems shows, as does all his best work, his ability to adapt contemporary speech rhythms and everyday vocabulary to subtle metrical patterns and poetic forms. Many of the poems in the collection, which includes some of his best-known pieces ('The Old Fools', 'This Be the Verse', 'The Explosion', and the title poem) show the preoccupation with death and transience that is so typical of the poet.

This beautifully designed edition forms part of a series of ten titles celebrating Faber's publishing over the decades.

Philip Larkin was born in Coventry in 1922 and educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry, and St John's College, Oxford. As well as his volumes of poems, which include The Less Deceived and The Whitsun Weddings, he wrote two novels, Jill and A Girl in Winter, and two books of collected journalism: All What Jazz: A Record Diary, and Required Writing: Miscellaneous Prose. He worked as a librarian at the University of Hull from 1955 until his death in 1985. He was one of the best-loved poet of his generation, and the recipient of innumerable honours, including the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, and the WH Smith Literary Award.