Philip Larkin

Philip Larkin's "Sad Steps" is a poem in which the narrator is envious of the moon. Unlike humans, the moon does not have an end and is symbolized almost as immortal. In the poem, the reader can grasp that the narrator is perhaps middle-aged and is not particularily happy, as indicated by the title: "Sad Steps". Also, he wishes to be young once again, and critizes the moon for not having a beginning nor an ending: It simply rises, becomes full, and sets just as it always does. The moon is unaware of its immortality, which the narrator yearns for. Also, the moon reminds the narrator that he is not getting any younger and that his youth will never be again, as stated in the following lines, "Is a reminder of the strength and pain/ Og being young: that it can't come again, / But for others undiminished somewhere" (lines 16-18).

Shel Silverstein's "The Perfect High"

Shel Silverstein’s “The Perfect High” symbolizes the typically selfish desire of mankind to constantly yearn for perfection, even though it does not exist.  In the poem, Gimmesome Roy (whose name is ironically significant)  is a boy who spends his days experimenting with drugs in search of the perfect high. Despite his numerous attempts, he fails to find a drug that gives him the rush he so desires. Gimmesome Roy eventually learns of the way to find the perfect drug and spends fourteen long years attempting to climb his way to Baba Fats, who can supply Roy with the perfect drug.  Upon being told that the perfect high can only be found within himself, Roy threatens Baba Fats and demands knowledge of how to obtain the perfect high. Baba Fats then has no choice but to lie to Roy, fabricating a story as provided in the following lines:

“A wretched land of stone and sand where snakes and buzzards scream,
And in this devil’s garden blooms the mystic Tzu–Tzu tree.
And every ten years it blooms one flower as white as the Key West sky,
And he who eats of the Tzu–Tzu flower will know the perfect high.
For the rush comes on like a tidal wave and it hits like the blazing sun.
And the high, it lasts a lifetime and the down don’t ever come.”

 Gimmesome Roy is far too determined to achieve the perfect high that his ignorance inhibits him from truly understanding what Baba Fats is trying to tell him. Roy is willing to slay beasts and swim in creature-infested waters to get his perfect high, even though it does not, nor will ever, exist.