Safe were those evenings of the pre-war world When fireligh… - John Betjeman

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Safe were those evenings of the pre-war world
When firelight shone on green linoleum,
I heard the church bells hollowing out the sky,
Deep beyond deep, like never-ending stars.

John Betjeman

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About John Betjeman

Sir John Betjeman CBE (28 August 1906 – 19 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, helping to save St Pancras railway station from demolition. He began his career as a journalist and ended it as one of the most popular British Poets Laureate and a much-loved figure on British television.

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Alternative Names: Sir John Betjeman • John Betjeman Sir • Richard M. Farran • John, Sir Betjeman

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Originators like John Betjeman:

William Butler Yeats Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Paul Simon Lord Byron Rudyard Kipling

Additional quotes by John Betjeman

It's strange that those we miss the most
Are those we take for granted.

Topography is one of my chief themes in my poetry...about the country, the suburbs and the seaside...then there comes love...and increasingly, the fear of death.

He would have liked to say goodbye,
Shake hands with many friends.
In Highgate now his finger-bones
Stick through his finger-ends. You, God, who treat him thus and thus,
Say, "Save his soul and pray."
You ask me to believe You and
I only see decay.

Safe were those evenings of the pre-war world When firelight shone on green linoleum, I heard the church bells hollowing out the sky, Deep beyond dee… - John Betjeman

About John Betjeman

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