John Betjeman was an English poet and broadcaster. He’s remembered as a well-loved figure in the English poetry scene and served as Poet Laureate from 1972 unto his death in 1984. He started his career as a journalist and wrote witty and humorous poems that were easily accessible.
Some of John Betjeman’s most famous poems include Diary of a Church Mouse, Senex, Slough, In Westminster Abbey, and The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel.
‘The Planster’s Vision’ by John Betjeman satirizes the goals of men who indiscriminately demolish buildings of cultural or aesthetic significance.
Cut down that timber! Bells, too many and strong,
Pouring their music through the branches bare,
From moon-white church-towers down the windy air
Have pealed the centuries out with Evensong.
She died in the upstairs bedroom
By the light of the ev'ning star
That shone through the plate glass window
From over Leamington Spa
‘In Westminster Abbey’ is a satirical dramatic monologue in which Betjeman sends up the upper classes for their preoccupations with class and money.
‘Inexpensive Progress’ by John Betjeman is an incredibly effective poem. In it, the speaker acknowledges and speaks out against the way industrialism is removing humanity’s access to history and nature.
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