John Betjeman Quotes

United Kingdom, Poet
August 28, 1906 – May, 19, 1984.

Sir John Betjeman CBE (/ˈbɛtʃəmən/; 28 August 1906 – 19 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack". He was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1972 until his death.

Also known as Writer, Broadcaster

We sat in the car park till twenty to oneAnd now I'm engaged to Miss Joan Hunter Dunn.

John Betjeman
- Car
Ghastly Good Taste, or a Depressing Story of the Rise and Fall of English Architecture.

John Betjeman
- Good
- Fall
- English

Sing on, with hymns uproarious,Ye humble and aloof,Look up! and oh how gloriousHe has restored the roof!

John Betjeman
- Up
- Humble
And behind their frail partitionsBusiness women lie and soak,Seeing through the draughty skylightFlying 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!

John Betjeman
- Women
- Rest
- Breakfast
Silver and ermine and red faces full of port wine.

John Betjeman
- Red
- Wine
In the licorice fields at PontefractMy love and I did meetAnd many a burdened licorice bushWas blooming round our feet;Red hair she had and golden skin,Her sulky lips were shaped for sin,Her sturdy legs were flannel-slack'dThe strongest legs in Pontefract.

John Betjeman
- She
- Hair
- Red
I don't think I am any good. If I thought I was any good, I wouldn't be.

John Betjeman
- Good
Stony seaboard, far and foreign,Stony hills poured over space,Stony outcrop of the Burren,Stones in every fertile place.

John Betjeman
- Space

The test of an abstract picture, for me, is not my first reaction to it, but how long I can stand it hanging on the wall of a room where I am living.

John Betjeman
- Long
- Picture
- Wall