- Paperback: 427 pages
- Publisher: John Murray Publishers Ltd; 4th Revised edition edition (19 Jun 1980)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0719536324
- ISBN-13: 978-0719536328
- Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.8 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 705,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
The poetic work of John Betjeman is known both for its range and its mastery of form. Released for the first time in paperback, this selection of his poetry has sold more than two million copies and was awarded the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I don't pretend to be much of an expert on poetry, but when I first read Betjeman's work, I was stunned at the simplicity and beauty of the rhythm he brings to the language. Intelligent and articulate without being pretentious or high-brow, this is nonetheless extraordinary writing by a rare, rare talent. This collection includes some of his later works, perhaps overlooked in the light of his prolific mid-Century output. While not in the same league as his middle period, they still give an insight into a man that excelled at painting images with words.
'Revival ran along the hedge
And made my spirit whole,
With steam upon the windowpane
And glory in my soul.'
Format:Hardcover
Of all the English poets, Sir John Betjeman (1906-1984) seems to stand alone. His work is hugely popular amongst readers, but because of his `simple' style of incorporating topographical place-names, contemporary allusions, humour (frequently mocking) fused with a melancholy nostalgia for a bygone world, he is never really `accepted' as a poet by fellow poets and critics, including `pseudo-intellectuals' who worship at the altar of T. S. Eliot.
Betjeman, like that other great English poet who suffers much the same snobbish disapproval, A. E. Housman (1859-1936), sought inspiration in the English countryside, towns and villages and conveyed his poetic observations, often witty, urbane and satiric with a light lyrical nostalgia; love is also a major theme, fulfilled and unrequited, with much sadness and regret and written in the structure of the ballad form. But who can fail to fall under the spell of Betjeman with such poems as `Death in Leamington', `The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel', `Slough', `Upper Lambourne', `Myfanwy' and `A Subaltern's Love-song'?
His interests were far-reaching, from architecture, especially the `Gothic Revival' of Victorian Church architecture, (he was founder of the British Victorian Society); railways, social history, provincial towns and conservation. He didn't take himself too seriously, not even as Poet Laureate (1972) and his Collected Works remains as a monument to the measure of the man - remembered for his conservation work, his child-like enthusiasm and as one of the nation's favourite poets! Wonderful!
Betjeman, like that other great English poet who suffers much the same snobbish disapproval, A. E. Housman (1859-1936), sought inspiration in the English countryside, towns and villages and conveyed his poetic observations, often witty, urbane and satiric with a light lyrical nostalgia; love is also a major theme, fulfilled and unrequited, with much sadness and regret and written in the structure of the ballad form. But who can fail to fall under the spell of Betjeman with such poems as `Death in Leamington', `The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel', `Slough', `Upper Lambourne', `Myfanwy' and `A Subaltern's Love-song'?
His interests were far-reaching, from architecture, especially the `Gothic Revival' of Victorian Church architecture, (he was founder of the British Victorian Society); railways, social history, provincial towns and conservation. He didn't take himself too seriously, not even as Poet Laureate (1972) and his Collected Works remains as a monument to the measure of the man - remembered for his conservation work, his child-like enthusiasm and as one of the nation's favourite poets! Wonderful!
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A delightful volume which captures the spirit of Betjeman in all its fullness and wit.
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