Is anyone aware of a poem that John Betjeman poem wrote on The High in Oxford?
Is anyone aware of a poem that John Betjeman poem wrote on The High in Oxford?
I wonder if you aren't confusing the tile, High and Low, a collection of poems by Betjeman published in 1966. There is also Summoned by Bells which is a blank Verse autobiography covering his early life up to his time in Oxford.
I apologise for appearing pedantic or maybe I misunderstand you. I asked, “Is anyone aware of a poem of a poem that John Betjeman wrote on The High in Oxford?” because I thought that with his association with Oxford he may just have written something on High Street otherwise known as “the High”. Having said that I have to admit that my knowledge on Betjeman does not run to having read his collection, “High and Low.”Originally Posted by Hawkman
I have looked through parts of “Summoned by Bells” but discovered that was just what I had been looking through, “parts” of “Summoned by Bells” because none of the books I found carried the whole of “Summoned by Bells”. It looks as though a trip into Oxford is called for in the hope that Blackwells carry that blank verse autobiography and I hope that I can find a mention of the High within it.
"Summoned by Bells" is included the Collected Poems with an introduction by Andrew Motion.
I've just looked through Chapter IX of Summoned by Bells, which covers his time in Oxford. I could not spot any references to the High.
The only poem I know about the High were verses from a Victorian undergraduate revue:
I am the Dean
And this Mrs Liddell.
She plays the first
And I second fiddle.
She is the Broad
And I am the High.
We are the Un-
-Iversity.
Last edited by Jackson Richardson; 08-21-2013 at 05:23 PM.
Previously JonathanB
The more I read, the more I shall covet to read. Robert Burton The Anatomy of Melancholy Partion3, Section 1, Member 1, Subsection 1
He wrote a poem about listening to the bells of Magdalen (his college) from the Botanic Gardens, which are the other side of thr High from the college (and figure memorably at the conclusion of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy).
Previously JonathanB
The more I read, the more I shall covet to read. Robert Burton The Anatomy of Melancholy Partion3, Section 1, Member 1, Subsection 1
I've looked through the list of contents of the Collected Poems, and looked any relevant to Oxford. I haven't seen any reference to the High.
The title of the poem I mentioned above is "Church of England thoughts occasioned by hearing the bells of Magdalen Tower from the Botanic Gardens, Oxford on St mary Magdalen's Day".
Previously JonathanB
The more I read, the more I shall covet to read. Robert Burton The Anatomy of Melancholy Partion3, Section 1, Member 1, Subsection 1
Smooth down the Avenue glitters the bicycle,
Black-stockinged legs under navy blue serge,
Home and Colonial, Star, International,
Balancing bicycle leant on the verge.
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