John Betjeman Quotes
1906–1984 England
Sir John Betjeman CBE (28 August 1906 – 19 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death.
Also known as: Betjeman, Betjeman, John, Betjeman, Sir John, Sir John Betjeman
Random John Betjeman quote
46 quotes
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!
A Few Late Chrysanthemums (1954)
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!
New Bats in Old Belfries (1945)
Christmas and Easter may be feasts
For congregations and for priests,
And so may Whitsun. All the same,
They do not fill my meagre frame.
For me the only feast at all
Is Autumn’s Harvest Festival.
There are two things 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.
Within the human world I know
Such goings-on could not be so,
For human beings only do
What their religion tells them to.
[...]
But all the same it’s strange to me
How very full the church can be
With people I don’t see at all
Except at Harvest Festival.
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.
Old Lights for New Chancels (1940)