Sir John Betjeman - (revised version)

Sir John Betjeman
was a poet of note;
most people liked
the verse he wrote
excepting perhaps
the citizens of Slough
and I wonder if
they've forgiven him now.

The poem Slough is about
the town's dereliction;
it urges 'friendly' bombs 
to effect its extinction,
even if it means
to blow every building
to smithereens.

He was a Poet Laureate
from 1972 till his demise
which happened in 1984,
May the 19th to be precise.
He was very interested
in Victorian architecture
and about that subject
he gave many a lecture.

He was once described as
a songster of tenis lawns
and of cathedral cloisters
by some critical dons,
but who knew him well
discounted the notion
that he was lightweight
and bereft of emotion.

A Subaltern Love Song
is a poem penned in fun
and it tells of his longing
for Miss Joan Hunter Dunn.
Adultery may be presumed
but it's an unlikely scenario:
I can't imagine Betjeman
as an unprincipled lothario.

© Luigi Pagano 2025