John Betjeman
From Wikiquote
Sir John Betjeman, CBE (28 August 1906 – 19 May 1984) was an English poet, architectural conservationist and broadcaster. He was the British Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death in 1984.
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Sourced [edit]
Quotes [edit]
- Hymns are the poetry of the people.
- Radio Talk: BBC Radio (4 July 6 1975)
- Hymn tunes are the nearest we've got to English folk music..
- there are two thing you need for a jolly good hymn.The first is a set of words that expresses the mood or sentiment of the worshipper.The second-and perhaps even more important- is a good tune..with a simple popular melody.
- One mark of good verse is surprise
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- Radio Talk. BBC Radio 4 (2 August 1978)
- Topography is one of my chief themes in my poetry..about the country,the suburbs and the seaside...then there come's love..and increasingly; the fear of death
- Radio Talk. BBC Third Programme 1949
- I ought to warn you that my verse is of no interest to people who can think.
- Radio Talk. BBC Third Programme 1949
- Ghastly Good Taste, or a Depressing Story of the Rise and Fall of English Architecture.
- Title of book (1933)
- Yes, I haven't had enough sex.
- In an interview for the television documentary Time With Betjeman (February 1983), having been asked whether he had any regrets.
Poetry [edit]
- Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough!
It isn't fit for humans now,
There isn't grass to graze a cow.
Swarm over, Death!- "Slough" line 1, from Continual Dew (1937)
- He sipped at a weak hock and seltzer
As he gazed at the London skies
Through the Nottingham lace of the curtains
Or was it his bees-winged eyes?- "The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel" line 1, from Continual Dew
- Gracious Lord, oh bomb the Germans.
Spare their women for Thy Sake,
And if that is not too easy,
We will pardon Thy Mistake.
But, gracious Lord, whate'er shall be,
Don't let anyone bomb me.- "In Westminster Abbey" line 1, from Old Lights for New Chancels (1940)
- He would have liked to say goodbye,
Shake hands with many friends.
In Highgate now his finger-bones
Stick through his finger-ends.
You, God, who treat him thus and thus,
Say, "Save his soul and pray."
You ask me to believe You and
I only see decay.- "On a Portrait of a Deaf Man" line 25, from Old Lights for New Chancels
- Miss J. Hunter Dunn, Miss J. Hunter Dunn,
Furnish'd and burnish'd by Aldershot sun,
What strenuous singles we played after tea,
We in the tournament — you against me!- "A Subaltern's Love-song" line 1, from New Bats in Old Belfries (1945)
- We sat in the car park till twenty to one
And now I'm engaged to Miss Joan Hunter Dunn.- "A Subaltern's Love-song" line 43
- Stony seaboard, far and foreign,
Stony hills poured over space,
Stony outcrop of the Burren,
Stones in every fertile place- "In Ireland with Emily" from New Bats in Old Belfries
- No hope. And the X-ray photographs under his arm
Confirm the message. His wife stands timidly by.
The opposite brick-built house looks lofty and calm,
Its chimneys steady against the mackerel sky.- "Devonshire Street W.1" line 1, from A Few Late Chrysanthemums (1954)
- And behind their frail partitions
Business women lie and soak,
Seeing through the draughty skylight
Flying clouds and railway smoke.
Rest you there, poor unbelov'd ones,
Lap your loneliness in heat,
All too soon the tiny breakfast,
Trolley-bus and windy street!- "Business Girls" line 13, from A Few Late Chrysanthemums
- In the licorice fields at Pontefract
My love and I did meet
And many a burdened licorice bush
Was blooming round our feet;
Red hair she had and golden skin,
Her sulky lips were shaped for sin,
Her sturdy legs were flannel-slack'd
The strongest legs in Pontefract.
- "The Licorice Fields at Pontefract" from A Few Late Chrysanthemums
- It's strange that those we miss the most
Are those we take for granted.- "The Hon. Sec." line 39, from High and Low (1966)
- I am a young executive. No cuffs than mine are cleaner;
I have a Slimline brief-case and I use the firm's Cortina.- "Executive" line 1, from A Nip in the Air (1974)
