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Continual Dew
Mr Betjeman has always been a vieux jeu verse writer. A well known left wing poet has described his poems as 'full of the prejudices of the 19th century bourgeoisie in their most corrupt and inverted form'.
That corruption lies between the boards. It consists of new poems and, by special requests, a few drawing-room favourites from 'Mt Zion (Jones Press: but long out of print).
The verse is nostalgic and designed for those who appreciate Sunday in a provincial town, the subtleties of high, low and broad churchmanship, gaslit London, bottle parties in the suburbs, civil servants on the hike, and half-timbered houses on the Southern Electric.
That corruption lies between the boards. It consists of new poems and, by special requests, a few drawing-room favourites from 'Mt Zion (Jones Press: but long out of print).
The verse is nostalgic and designed for those who appreciate Sunday in a provincial town, the subtleties of high, low and broad churchmanship, gaslit London, bottle parties in the suburbs, civil servants on the hike, and half-timbered houses on the Southern Electric.
51 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1937
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 21, 2017
A selection of new and reproduced poems from the master, all of which have that Betjeman feel about them. It is as though one is rambling down a lane and viewing the places he writes about or one is in the situation that he describes.
One in the last class is a particular favourite of mine, 'The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel'. This poem admirably captures the tragedy of the situation and how Wilde relies on his friend Robbie [Ross] for support at what was obviously a distressful time. His line 'Do fetch my morocco portmanteau' is particularly poignant for one realises that Wilde is on his way ... to prison!
There are also poems about Exeter, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, Bootle, Leamington and that old favourite Slough, 'To get it ready for the plough'!!
A poem entitled 'Tea with the poets' mentions, Hopkins, Spender and Day-Lewis but as Betjeman writes it is 'Primula Guest who he likes best'.
I discovered my copy of this the other day and decided that I would read it again and it is one of those books that profits from being read aloud, so I did this - to myself! Betjeman's poetry does benefit from being read aloud as the cadence the reader gives to the poems not only brings Betjeman's own renderings of the poems to mind (one can almost hear him speaking them!) but also seems to improve the rhythm of the verse. This is particularly demonstrated with the opening lines of the first poem in the collection: 'He sipped a weak hock and seltzer/As he gazed at the London skies/Through the Nottingham lace of the curtains/Or was it his bees-winged eyes?'
It continues later on with: 'A thump, and a murmur of voices -/("Oh why must they make such a din?")/As the door of the bedroom swung open/And two PLAIN CLOTHES POLICEMEN came in.' What better way to capture 6 April 1895 when Oscar Wilde was arrested at the Cadogan Hotel and Betjeman's description never fails to make the hair on my neck stand on end ... oh, Oscar why did you not make a run for it as your friends suggested?...
And as all Betjeman fans will know, Slough suffers badly; the opening line is sufficient -'Come, friendly bombs and fall on Slough' and it gets worse with the second line, 'It isn't fit for humans now' ... take it easy John! Exeter fares better for, writing of the 'doctor's intellectual wife' he mentions 'By pink, acacia-shaded walls'! And Westgate-on-Sea comes out well with such lines as 'Happy bells of eighteen-ninety,/Bursting from your freestone tower./Recalling laurels, shrubs and privet/Red geraniums in flower...' Pretty scenes both!
There is no doubt that Betjeman was a passionate observer of scenes and he transmits much of this into this delightful little book of poetry, which was his second publication and which contained new poems and one or two reprinted from his first book 'Mount Zion'.
Finally, to support my view of reading aloud, I was pleased to see that Evelyn Waugh once wrote, 'Mr Betjeman's poetry is not meant to be read, but recited - and recited almost with epileptic animation'. Hear, hear. I do understand what Waugh means and I did give them plenty of gusto but I did, and always will, avoid the epileptic element of the recitations!
One in the last class is a particular favourite of mine, 'The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel'. This poem admirably captures the tragedy of the situation and how Wilde relies on his friend Robbie [Ross] for support at what was obviously a distressful time. His line 'Do fetch my morocco portmanteau' is particularly poignant for one realises that Wilde is on his way ... to prison!
There are also poems about Exeter, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, Bootle, Leamington and that old favourite Slough, 'To get it ready for the plough'!!
A poem entitled 'Tea with the poets' mentions, Hopkins, Spender and Day-Lewis but as Betjeman writes it is 'Primula Guest who he likes best'.
I discovered my copy of this the other day and decided that I would read it again and it is one of those books that profits from being read aloud, so I did this - to myself! Betjeman's poetry does benefit from being read aloud as the cadence the reader gives to the poems not only brings Betjeman's own renderings of the poems to mind (one can almost hear him speaking them!) but also seems to improve the rhythm of the verse. This is particularly demonstrated with the opening lines of the first poem in the collection: 'He sipped a weak hock and seltzer/As he gazed at the London skies/Through the Nottingham lace of the curtains/Or was it his bees-winged eyes?'
It continues later on with: 'A thump, and a murmur of voices -/("Oh why must they make such a din?")/As the door of the bedroom swung open/And two PLAIN CLOTHES POLICEMEN came in.' What better way to capture 6 April 1895 when Oscar Wilde was arrested at the Cadogan Hotel and Betjeman's description never fails to make the hair on my neck stand on end ... oh, Oscar why did you not make a run for it as your friends suggested?...
And as all Betjeman fans will know, Slough suffers badly; the opening line is sufficient -'Come, friendly bombs and fall on Slough' and it gets worse with the second line, 'It isn't fit for humans now' ... take it easy John! Exeter fares better for, writing of the 'doctor's intellectual wife' he mentions 'By pink, acacia-shaded walls'! And Westgate-on-Sea comes out well with such lines as 'Happy bells of eighteen-ninety,/Bursting from your freestone tower./Recalling laurels, shrubs and privet/Red geraniums in flower...' Pretty scenes both!
There is no doubt that Betjeman was a passionate observer of scenes and he transmits much of this into this delightful little book of poetry, which was his second publication and which contained new poems and one or two reprinted from his first book 'Mount Zion'.
Finally, to support my view of reading aloud, I was pleased to see that Evelyn Waugh once wrote, 'Mr Betjeman's poetry is not meant to be read, but recited - and recited almost with epileptic animation'. Hear, hear. I do understand what Waugh means and I did give them plenty of gusto but I did, and always will, avoid the epileptic element of the recitations!
August 13, 2019
The sound of the suburbs, including the well-known lines about Slough. I got a replica of the original print in a charity shop and it brightened up my Christmas eve.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews