Sir John Betjeman (1906-84) was an English poet and writer, known for his technically conservative verse that captured the wry comedy and melancholy of middle-class life. As Poet Laureate, he also championed English architecture, particularly Victorian buildings and churches.
Sir John Betjeman (1906-84) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster, serving as Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. His poetry, characterized by regular rhythms and rhymes, offers wry comedies of middle-class life tinged with sadness. Betjeman also wrote prose, notably advocating for Victorian buildings and churches, as seen in his introduction to the Collins Guide to English Parish Churches (1958).
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| Back | 1906-84 poet part of his recognition came from fellow poets like Auden and Larkin technically conservative and deceptive simple in its reliance on regular rhythms and well-worn rhymes, his poetry creates a wry comedy of middle class life and aspirations that is shot through with sadness his sense of the smallness and superficiality of contemporary life, his melancholy Christianity and above all, the abiding sustenance he took from English landscape and English architecture found a voice too in his large output of prose from chastely Good Taste 1933 onward his architectural writings were notable for their unfashionable advocacy of Victorian buildings, often in danger of obliteration, and their discerning eye for churches, perhaps best displayed in the introduction to Collins Guide to English parish churches 1958. 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. |
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