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Collected Poems John Betjeman by John…
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Collected Poems John Betjeman (original 1958; edition 2006)

by John Betjeman

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784328,077 (3.88)4
Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough To get it ready for the plough. The cabbages are coming now; The earth exhales. --from "Slough" When the beloved English poet John Betjeman's Collected Poems first appeared in 1958, it made publishing history, and has now sold more than two million copies to a steadily expanding readership. Betjeman is almost unique among poets in that his work appeals equally strongly to those who love poetry and to those who rarely read it. This volume, the first American edition of the Collected Poems, incorporates all the poems that Betjeman published after the original Collected Poems and includes a new foreword by Britain's poet laureate, Andrew Motion.… (more)
Member:gingerblokey
Title:Collected Poems John Betjeman
Authors:John Betjeman
Info:MURRAY JOHN PUBLISHE (2006), Paperback, 528 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:*****
Tags:poetry

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Collected Poems by John Betjeman (1958)

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Ahhhhh, Sir John Betjeman. He's the kind of person you read if Prince Harry just ain't fucking British enough for ya. Take the tram up Tottenham-of-Berfordshire and come to the land of Hobbiton and The Shire. Much of this book is too esoteric for Americans to "get" but I imagine if you're British and you're not at home this stuff will make you nostalgic. The best of this collection is quite great and contrary to what Christopher Hitchens says of the British laureate-ship and the downhill tendencies exhibited after earning of it, I didn't see a dive in quality. In fact, I had given up on this book for a long time before I reached the material to which Hitchens would've referred. It was his calling himself a "poet and a hack" that made me really come back. It takes a big man to admit to hack tendencies, I think, and as far as poets go he may never reach the heights of whatsay your Tennyson but that could be a deficiency of aim rather than actual talent. ( )
1 vote Salmondaze | Apr 10, 2016 |
Hard to not like Betjeman ( )
  Jennifertapir | May 17, 2009 |
I've always liked the rhythm and pace of Betjeman's poems ever since we studied him at school all those decades ago. ( )
  John5918 | May 2, 2006 |
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» Add other authors (16 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
John Betjemanprimary authorall editionscalculated
Birkenhead, the Earl ofEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Motion, AndrewIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Smith, Frederick WinstonIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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I had forgotten Hertfordshire,
The large unwelcome fields of roots
Where with my knickerbockered sire
I trudged in syndicated shoots

And that unlucky day when I
Fired by mistake into the ground
Under a Lionel Edwards sky
And felt disapprobation round.
[Betjeman] is not a Nature poet, like Wordsworth, but a landscape poet like Crabbe and, like Crabbe, he is the painter of the particular, the recognisable landscape. (John Sparrow)
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"Compiled and with an introduction by the Earl of Birkenhead. This consisted of a selection of Betjeman's poems, rather than a collection of all his work;there have been numerous reprints, some of which have provided additional works for inclusion"
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Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough To get it ready for the plough. The cabbages are coming now; The earth exhales. --from "Slough" When the beloved English poet John Betjeman's Collected Poems first appeared in 1958, it made publishing history, and has now sold more than two million copies to a steadily expanding readership. Betjeman is almost unique among poets in that his work appeals equally strongly to those who love poetry and to those who rarely read it. This volume, the first American edition of the Collected Poems, incorporates all the poems that Betjeman published after the original Collected Poems and includes a new foreword by Britain's poet laureate, Andrew Motion.

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