Annus Mirabilis

146 THE MICHIGAN QUARTERLY REVIEW PHILIP LARKIN ANNUS MIRABILIS Sexual intercourse began In nineteen sixty-three (Which was rather late for me)Between the end of the Chatterley ban And the Beatles' first LP. Up to then there'd only been A sort of bargaining, A wrangle for a ring, A shame that started at sixteen And spread to everything. Then all at once the quarrel sank: Everyone felt the same, And every life became A brilliant breaking of the bank, A quite unlosable game. So life was never better than In nineteen sixty-three (Though just too late for me)Between the end of the Chatterley ban And the Beatles' first LP.