Poetry & Prose

John Betjeman

On the south bank of the Thames protected from the weather by Waterloo Bridge, there’s a second hand book shop and however hard I try, I can never walk past without browsing.  When I find a bargain I snatch it from the table and pay the man.  I have no idea where the books come from and I don’t really care either. Anyway, when I found a copy of John Betjeman’s best of, I couldn’t resist, especially since it was just over three quid. It was a pleasure doing business for something so enjoyable.

John Betjeman was actually born John Betjemann in 1906. His surname was changed during World War I to sound less German. The family lived at Parliament Hill Mansions in Highgate North London. In 1909 they moved to a more opulent part of Highgate.

Statue of John Betjeman at St Pancras International

Betjeman was educated at Byron House and Highgate School where he was taught by none other than the poet T S Eliot.  He then went on to board at the Dragon School preparatory school in Oxford.  After failing the maths section of the entry exam, Betjeman struggled to get into university, but was accepted as a non-scholarship student.  While at Magdalen College, he was tutored by a young C S Lewis so at this stage of his education, Betjeman had been introduced to two literary greats.

After university, Betjeman worked for a brief period of time as a private secretary, school teacher and film critic. He was employed by the Architectural Review as assistant editor from 1930-1935 and this employer was said to be his true university. During this period, he married Penelope Chetwode and their first child was born in 1937.

If you’ve read any of his work, you’ll understand why I was excited about the book.  Betjeman’s subjects are places and the everyday.  I wouldn’t say the wording is simple, but there is a touch of comedy and it really is easy to understand.  There isn’t a great deal of abstract in his work and his humour only adds to the honesty. If you've never been aquainted, there’s still time.

John Betjeman passed away in 1984 and is buried in the churchyard at St Enodoc’s church in Cornwall. I wish I had known him.  I think he would have been interesting to talk to and the kind of man that people are just drawn to. His style is formidable and charismatic – I love it.  Oh and after sprouting about how much I like the late John Betjeman, might I add that Once upon a time in London, a Poet Laureate pushed aside the pretentious and gave the world an offering of enjoyable modernism that really is second to none.

 

Who’s Afraid?

Virginia Woolf

Really and truly, I had no idea how to start this.  When I first began to read Mrs Dalloway, I didn’t realise the path the book would actually take and to me, what started with a nice walk along Bond Street took a downwards spiral to something that resembled a party plot of ‘Keeping up Appearances.’ To be honest, I couldn’t wait to finish the book and on this occasion, the author is definitely more interesting to me than this particular story. Please forgive me if I’ve offended any of you by saying that and sadly, I wouldn’t be inclined to read any of her other work.

The troubled life of Adeline Virginia Stephen started on the 25^th of January 1882 in London England. But if you read the authors memoirs, her most vivid memories are of St Ives, Cornwall where the family spent every summer up to 1895.

Her tragic descent began when she lost her mother in that very year at the age of 13 and then the loss of her half-sister two years later, led to the first of Virginia’s many breakdowns. The death of her father in 1904 led to her being institutionalised. Her breakdowns and subsequent mood swings were also said to be the result of sexual abuse from her half-brothers which is included in her memoirs.

The plaque on the house in Hyde Park Gate

Educated by her parents in their home in Hyde Park Gate, Virginia did later attend Kings College and studied several languages in the ladies department.  Woolf began her writing career in 1900 for the Times and her first novel was published in 1915. Some might say that a story slightly reflects the personal experience of the writer.  If this is the case, in my opinion, it seems that her private world made a public debut in much of her work.

The picture of Woolf on a window of Kings College

Woolf was a member of the Bloomsbury group and played a part in the Dreadnought Hoax dressed as an Abyssinian prince.  The six members sent a telegram to HMS Dreadnought instructing that the ship must be prepared for the group of princes to visit.  The UK foreign office even arranged a VIP coach for the group.  The group showed their appreciation of the tour with the words ‘Bunga Bunga.’ When revealed as a hoax, the expedition was an embarrassment to the Navy and the Home Office and when the official Emperor of Ethiopia requested to view the vessel, the request was declined.

She married Leonard Woolf in 1912 and although she was troubled mentally and extremely fond of the same sex, their marriage was in her words, complete. There were never any children of course, but if you read into her life, it’s to be expected.

Virginia spent the last years of her life with her husband in Sussex at Monks House which is now maintained by the National Trust.  After completing the manuscript of her last novel, she slipped once again into a deep depression and on the 28^th of March 1941 after writing her last words in a note to her husband, she filled her pockets with stones and walked into the River Ouse.

The tragic life of Virginia Woolf is a story that affects everybody differently and it’s definitely worth telling you that, Once upon a time in 1941, a woman who loved her work, fell out of love with the world and left it behind.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/monks-house/

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/archive/permalink/dreadnought_hoax/