The Jacobethan ( / ˌ dʒ æ k ə ˈ b iː θ ən / jak-ə- BEE -thən ) architectural style, also known as Jacobean Revival , is the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the English Renaissance (1550–1625), with elements of Elizabethan and Jacobean .
120-474: John Betjeman coined the term "Jacobethan" in 1933, and described it as follows: The style in which the Gothic predominates may be called, inaccurately enough, Elizabethan, and the style in which the classical predominates over the Gothic, equally inaccurately, may be called Jacobean. To save the time of those who do not wish to distinguish between these periods of architectural uncertainty, I will henceforward use
240-462: A London -based form of English, became widespread. Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400), author of The Canterbury Tales , was a significant figure developing the legitimacy of vernacular Middle English at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were still French and Latin. The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1439 also helped to standardise the language, as did
360-430: A 1962 radio interview he told teenage questioners that he could not write about 'abstract things', preferring places, and faces. Philip Larkin wrote of his work, "how much more interesting & worth writing about Betjeman's subjects are than most other modern poets, I mean, whether so-and-so achieves some metaphysical inner unity is not really so interesting to us as the overbuilding of rural Middlesex ". Prompted by
480-441: A BBC film made in 1968, but not broadcast at that time, Betjeman described the sound of Leeds to be of "Victorian buildings crashing to the ground". He went on to lambast John Poulson 's British Railways House (now City House ), saying how it blocked all the light out to City Square and was only a testament to money with no architectural merit. He also praised the architecture of Leeds Town Hall . In 1969, Betjeman contributed
600-423: A bitter detestation. This situation was perhaps complicated by his enduring love of Oxford, from which he accepted an honorary doctorate of letters in 1974. Betjeman left Oxford without a degree. Whilst there, however, he had made the acquaintance of people who would later influence his work, including Louis MacNeice and W. H. Auden . He worked briefly as a private secretary, school teacher and film critic for
720-761: A candidate to be the new Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom , following the death of John Masefield . He was rejected after the Prime Minister's Appointments Secretary John Hewitt consulted with Dame Helen Gardner , the Merton Professor of English at the University of Oxford (who stated that Betjeman was "a lightweight, amusing but rather trivial" with "critical views about the establishment ") and Geoffrey Handley-Taylor, chair of The Poetry Society (who stated that Betjeman "called himself
840-534: A conversion of importance to his later writing and conception of the arts. Betjeman left Marlborough in July 1925. Betjeman entered the University of Oxford with difficulty, having failed the mathematics portion of the university's matriculation exam, Responsions . He was, however, admitted as a commoner (i.e., a non-scholarship student) at Magdalen College and entered the newly created School of English Language and Literature. At Oxford, Betjeman made little use of
960-626: A dozen books. Five of these were verse collections, including one in the USA. Sales of his Collected Poems in 1958 reached 100,000. The popularity of the book prompted Ken Russell to make a film about him, John Betjeman: A Poet in London (1959). Filmed in 35 mm and running 11 minutes and 35 seconds, it was first shown on the BBC 's Monitor programme. From 1945 till 1951 he lived at The Old Rectory, Farnborough , Wantage, Berkshire. In 1951 he moved to
1080-544: A fairer analysis of his sexuality may be that he was "the hatcher of a lifetime of schoolboy crushes – both gay and straight", most of which progressed no further. Nevertheless, he has been considered "temperamentally gay", and even became a penpal of Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas , the friend of Oscar Wilde . For the last decade of his life, Betjeman suffered increasingly from Parkinson's disease . He died at his home in Trebetherick , Cornwall, on 19 May 1984, aged 77, and
1200-535: A family firm at 34–42 Pentonville Road which manufactured the kind of ornamental household furniture and gadgets distinctive to Victorians . During the First World War the family name was changed to the less German-looking Betjeman. His father's forebears had actually come from the present day Netherlands more than a century earlier, setting up their home and business in Islington , London, and during
1320-554: A friend who was publicity manager with Shell-Mex & BP , to guide Britain's growing number of motorists around the counties of Britain and their historical sites. They were published by the Architectural Press and financed by Shell . By the start of World War II 13 had been published, of which Cornwall (1934) and Devon (1936) were written by Betjeman. A third, Shropshire , was written with and designed by his good friend John Piper in 1951. In 1939, Betjeman
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#17327831242441440-523: A gap in literary tradition, allowing a seemingly fresh start for all forms of literature after the Restoration. During the Interregnum, the royalist forces attached to the court of Charles I went into exile with the twenty-year-old Charles II . The nobility who travelled with Charles II were therefore lodged for over a decade in the midst of the continent's literary scene. John Milton , one of
1560-558: A generation of European painters, composers, and writers. The English language spread throughout the world with the development of the British Empire between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history . By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23% of the world population at the time, During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, these colonies and
1680-595: A lithographed album Architecture of the Middle Ages: Drawn from Nature and on Stone in 1838. Casting about for a follow-up, Nash extended the range of antiquarian interests forward in time with his next series of lithographs The Mansions of England in the Olden Time 1839–1849, which accurately illustrated Tudor and Jacobean great houses, interiors as well as exteriors, made lively with furnishings and peopled by inhabitants in ruffs and farthingales ,
1800-526: A metaphor for the challenge faced by the committed Christian [...]". Classical antiquity was not forgotten in Anglo-Saxon England, and several Old English poems are adaptations of late classical philosophical texts. The longest is King Alfred 's (849–899) 9th-century translation of Boethius ' Consolation of Philosophy . After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the written form of
1920-531: A mile north to more opulent Highgate . From West Hill they lived in the reflected glory of the Burdett-Coutts estate : Here from my eyrie, as the sun went down, I heard the old North London puff and shunt, Glad that I did not live in Gospel Oak. Betjeman's early schooling was at the local Byron House and Highgate School , where he was taught by poet T. S. Eliot . After this, he boarded at
2040-471: A national style, even for the grandest projects on the largest scale; at the same time, the competition introduced the possibility of an Elizabethan revival. Of the ninety-seven designs submitted, six were in a self-described "Elizabethan" style. In 1838, with the Gothic revival well under way in Britain, Joseph Nash , trained in A. W. N. Pugin 's office designing Gothic details, struck out on his own with
2160-608: A personal friend of Chaucer, Gower is remembered primarily for three major works: the Mirroir de l'Omme , Vox Clamantis , and Confessio Amantis , three long poems written in Anglo-Norman , Latin and Middle English respectively, which are united by common moral and political themes. Significant religious works were also created in the 14th century, including those of Julian of Norwich (c. 1342 – c. 1416) and Richard Rolle . Julian's Revelations of Divine Love (about 1393)
2280-454: A poetic hack and there was some truth to this"). Prime Minister Harold Wilson ultimately selected Cecil Day-Lewis after Hewitt recommended him over Betjeman, whom Hewitt described to Wilson as a "backward-looking choice" and "the songster of tennis lawns and cathedral cloisters". Betjeman would become Poet Laureate in 1972 following the death of Day-Lewis, the first Knight Bachelor to be appointed (the only other, Sir William Davenant ,
2400-519: A secular view of the world and a general sense of progress and perfectibility. Led by the philosophers who were inspired by the discoveries of the previous century by people like Isaac Newton and the writings of Descartes , John Locke and Francis Bacon . They sought to discover and to act upon universally valid principles governing humanity, nature, and society. They variously attacked spiritual and scientific authority, dogmatism, intolerance, censorship, and economic and social restraints. They considered
2520-494: A shift towards a more secular base for European theatre. Morality plays are a type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of various moral attributes who try to prompt him to choose a godly life over one of evil. The plays were most popular in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The Somonyng of Everyman ( The Summoning of Everyman ) (c. 1509–1519), usually referred to simply as Everyman ,
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#17327831242442640-590: A third" – but he had informed the tutorial board that he thought Betjeman would not achieve an honours degree of any class. Permission to sit the Pass School was granted. Betjeman decided to offer a paper in Welsh. Osbert Lancaster tells the story that a tutor came by train twice a week (first class) from Aberystwyth to teach Betjeman. However, Jesus College had a number of Welsh tutors who more probably would have taught him. Betjeman finally had to leave at
2760-521: A time when it was unfashionable, and he was a founding member of The Victorian Society . He wrote on this subject in First and Last Loves (1952) and more extensively in London's Historic Railway Stations in 1972, defending the beauty of 12 stations. He led the campaign to save Holy Trinity, Sloane Street , in London when it was threatened with demolition in the early 1970s. He was also a founding member of
2880-600: A variety of genres, including histories (such as Richard III and Henry IV ), tragedies (such as Hamlet , Othello , and Macbeth ) comedies (such as Midsummer Night's Dream , As You Like It , and Twelfth Night ) and the late romances , or tragicomedies. Shakespeare's career continues in the Jacobean period. Other important figures in Elizabethan theatre include Christopher Marlowe , and Ben Jonson , Thomas Dekker , John Fletcher and Francis Beaumont . In
3000-639: A well-regarded television documentary for the BBC called Metro-Land , directed by Edward Mirzoeff . In 1974, Betjeman and Mirzoeff followed up Metro-Land with A Passion for Churches , a celebration of Betjeman's beloved Church of England , filmed entirely in the Diocese of Norwich . In 1975, he proposed that the Fine Rooms of Somerset House should house the Turner Bequest , so helping to scupper
3120-505: Is a late 15th-century English morality play. Like John Bunyan 's allegory Pilgrim's Progress (1678), Everyman examines the question of Christian salvation through the use of allegorical characters. The English Renaissance as a part of the Northern Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating from the late 15th to the 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that
3240-541: Is also one of the earliest recorded examples of sustained poetry in a Germanic language . The poem, The Dream of the Rood , was inscribed upon the Ruthwell Cross . Two Old English poems from the late 10th century are The Wanderer and The Seafarer . Both have a religious theme, and Marsden describes The Seafarer as "an exhortatory and didactic poem, in which the miseries of winter seafaring are used as
3360-410: Is among history's most influential and impassioned defenses of free speech and freedom of the press . The largest and most important poetic form of the era was satire. In general, publication of satire was done anonymously, as there were great dangers in being associated with a satire. John Dryden (1631–1700) was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated
3480-457: Is believed to be the first published book written by a woman in the English language. A major work from the 15th century is Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory , which was printed by Caxton in 1485. This is a compilation of some French and English Arthurian romances, and was among the earliest books printed in England. It was popular and influential in the later revival of interest in
3600-427: Is buried nearby at St Enodoc's Church . Betjeman was an Anglican and his religious beliefs come through in some of his poems. In a letter written on Christmas Day 1947, he said: "Also my view of the world is that man is born to fulfil the purposes of his Creator i.e. to Praise his Creator, to stand in awe of Him and to dread Him. In this way I differ from most modern poets, who are agnostics and have an idea that Man
3720-709: Is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world . The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the fifth century, are called Old English . Beowulf is the most famous work in Old English. Despite being set in Scandinavia , it has achieved national epic status in England. However, following
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3840-431: Is one of the better-known Arthurian stories of an established type known as the "beheading game". Developing from Welsh, Irish and English tradition, Sir Gawain highlights the importance of honour and chivalry. Preserved in the same manuscript with Sir Gawayne were three other poems, now generally accepted as the work of the same author, including an intricate elegiac poem, Pearl . The English dialect of these poems from
3960-410: Is recorded in his blank verse autobiography, Summoned by Bells , published in 1960 and made into a television film in 1976. It is a common misapprehension, cultivated by Betjeman himself, that he did not complete his degree because he failed to pass the compulsory holy scripture examination, known colloquially as "Divvers" , short for "Divinity". In Hilary term 1928, Betjeman failed Divinity for
4080-521: Is remembered chiefly for his famous translation in 1616 of Homer 's Iliad and Odyssey into English verse. This was the first ever complete translations of either poem into the English language. The translation had a profound influence on English literature and inspired John Keats 's famous sonnet "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" (1816). Shakespeare popularized the English sonnet , which made significant changes to Petrarch 's model. A collection of 154 by sonnets , dealing with themes such as
4200-476: Is similarly redolent of time and place, continually seeking out intimations of the eternal in the manifestly ordinary. There are constant evocations of the physical chaff and clutter that accumulates in everyday life, the miscellanea of an England now gone but not beyond the reach of living memory. He talks of Ovaltine and Sturmey-Archer bicycle gears. "Oh! Fuller's angel cake, Robertson's marmalade," he writes, " Liberty lampshades, come shine on us all." In
4320-539: Is that cluster of towers and pinnacles seen from Pentonville Hill and outlined against a foggy sunset and the great arc of Barlow 's train shed gaping to devour incoming engines and the sudden burst of exuberant Gothic of the hotel seen from gloomy Judd Street". On the reopening of St Pancras station in 2007, the Statue of John Betjeman was commissioned from curators Futurecity. A proposal by artist Martin Jennings
4440-706: Is the York cycle of 48 pageants. They were performed in the city of York , from the middle of the 14th century until 1569. Besides the Middle English drama, there are three surviving plays in Cornish known as the Ordinalia . Having grown out of the religiously based mystery plays of the Middle Ages, the morality play is a genre of medieval and early Tudor theatrical entertainment, which represented
4560-519: Is the centre of the Universe or is a helpless bubble blown about by uncontrolled forces." He combined piety with a nagging uncertainty about the truth of Christianity. Unlike Thomas Hardy , who disbelieved in the truth of the Christmas story while hoping it might be so, Betjeman affirms his belief even while fearing it might be false. In the poem "Christmas", one of his most openly religious pieces,
4680-542: Is the great example that defines the style. The Jacobethan Revival survived the late 19th century and became a part of the commercial builder's repertory through the first 20 years of the 20th century. Apart from its origins in the United Kingdom, the style became popular both in Canada and throughout the United States during those periods, for sturdy "baronial" dwellings in a free Renaissance style. A key exponent of
4800-539: Is usually regarded as beginning in Italy in the late 14th century. Like most of northern Europe, England saw little of these developments until more than a century later – Renaissance style and ideas were slow in penetrating England. Many scholars see the beginnings of the English Renaissance during the reign of Henry VIII and the Elizabethan era in the second half of the 16th century is usually regarded as
4920-635: The Evening Standard , where he also wrote for their high-society gossip column, the " Londoner's Diary ". He was employed by the Architectural Review between 1930 and 1935, as a full-time assistant editor, following their publishing of some of his freelance work. Timothy Mowl (2000) says, "His years at the Architectural Review were to be his true university". At this time, while his prose style matured, he joined
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5040-578: The King James Bible (1611), and the Great Vowel Shift . Poet and playwright William Shakespeare (1564–1616) is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and one of the world's greatest dramatists. His plays have been translated into every primary living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. In the nineteenth century, Sir Walter Scott's historical romances inspired
5160-507: The Anglo-Saxon language became less common. Under the influence of the new aristocracy, French became the standard language of courts, parliament, and polite society. As the invaders integrated, their language and literature mingled with that of the natives, and the Norman dialects of the ruling classes became Anglo-Norman . From then until the 12th century, Anglo-Saxon underwent a gradual transition into Middle English . Political power
5280-645: The Dragon School preparatory school in North Oxford and Marlborough College , a public school in Wiltshire. In his penultimate year, he joined the secret Society of Amici in which he was a contemporary of both Louis MacNeice and Graham Shepard . He founded The Heretick , a satirical magazine that lampooned Marlborough's obsession with sport. While at school, his exposure to the works of Arthur Machen won him over to High Church Anglicanism ,
5400-658: The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War had, ironically, added the extra "-n" to avoid the anti-Dutch sentiment existing at the time. Betjeman was baptised at St Anne's Church, Highgate Rise, a 19th-century church at the foot of Highgate West Hill . The family lived at Parliament Hill Mansions in the Lissenden Gardens private estate in Gospel Oak in north London. In 1909, the Betjemanns moved half
5520-756: The Friends of Friendless Churches in 1957. He fought a spirited but unsuccessful campaign to save the Propylaeum, known commonly as the Euston Arch , London. He is considered instrumental in helping to save St Pancras railway station , London, and was commemorated when it became an international terminus for Eurostar in November 2007. He called the plan to demolish St Pancras a "criminal folly". About it he wrote, "What [the Londoner] sees in his mind's eye
5640-658: The MARS Group , an organisation of young modernist architects and architectural critics in Britain. In 1937, Betjeman was a churchwarden at Uffington , the Berkshire village (in Oxfordshire since boundary changes of 1974) where he lived from 1934 to 1945. That year, he paid for the cleaning of the church's royal arms and later presided over the conversion of the church's oil lamps to electricity. The Shell Guides were developed by Betjeman and Jack Beddington ,
5760-611: The Midlands is markedly different from that of the London -based Chaucer and, though influenced by French in the scenes at court in Sir Gawain , there are in the poems also many dialect words, often of Scandinavian origin, that belonged to northwest England. Middle English lasted until the 1470s, when the Chancery Standard , a London-based form of English, became widespread and the printing press started to standardise
5880-456: The Norman conquest of England in 1066, the written form of the Anglo-Saxon language became less common. Under the influence of the new aristocracy, French became the standard language of courts, parliament, and polite society. The English spoken after the Normans came is known as Middle English . This form of English lasted until the 1470s, when the Chancery Standard (late Middle English),
6000-479: The Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I . Another major figure, Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586), was an English poet, whose works include Astrophel and Stella , The Defence of Poetry , and The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia . Poems intended to be set to music as songs, such as those by Thomas Campion (1567–1620), became popular as printed literature was disseminated more widely in households. John Donne (1572–1631)
6120-810: The US started to produce their significant literary traditions in English. Cumulatively, from 1907 to the present, numerous writers from Great Britain , both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland , the US, and former British colonies have received the Nobel Prize for works in English more than in any language. Old English literature , or Anglo-Saxon literature, encompasses the surviving literature written in Old English in Anglo-Saxon England , in
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#17327831242446240-458: The regicide of Charles I were partially suppressed. Consequently, violent writings were forced underground, and many of those who had served in the Interregnum attenuated their positions in the Restoration. John Bunyan stands out beyond other religious authors of the period. Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress is an allegory of personal salvation and a guide to the Christian life. During
6360-419: The "Emergency" (the war) including "The Irish Unionist's Farewell to Greta Hellstrom in 1922" (written during the war) which contained the refrain "Dungarvan in the rain". The object of his affections, "Greta", remained a mystery until revealed to have been a member of a well-known Anglo-Irish family of Western county Waterford . His official brief included establishing friendly contacts with leading figures in
6480-487: The 17th century a second generation of metaphysical poets were writing, including Richard Crashaw (1613–1649), Andrew Marvell (1621–1678), Thomas Traherne (1636 or 1637–1674) and Henry Vaughan (1622–1695). The Cavalier poets were another important group of 17th-century poets, who came from the classes that supported King Charles I during the English Civil War (1642–1651). (King Charles reigned from 1625 and
6600-427: The 18th century were equally influenced by both Dryden and Pope. Prose in the Restoration period is dominated by Christian religious writing, but the Restoration also saw the beginnings of two genres that would dominate later periods, fiction and journalism. Religious writing often strayed into political and economic writing, just as political and economic writing implied or directly addressed religion. The Restoration
6720-641: The 9th century, that chronicles the history of the Anglo-Saxons . The poem Battle of Maldon also deals with history. This is a work of uncertain date, celebrating the Battle of Maldon of 991, at which the Anglo-Saxons failed to prevent a Viking invasion. Oral tradition was very strong in early English culture and most literary works were written to be performed. Epic poems were very popular, and some, including Beowulf , have survived to
6840-622: The Arthurian legends. In the Middle Ages , drama in the vernacular languages of Europe may have emerged from enactments of the liturgy . Mystery plays were presented in the porches of cathedrals or by strolling players on feast days . Miracle and mystery plays, along with morality plays (or "interludes"), later evolved into more elaborate forms of drama, such as was seen on the Elizabethan stages. Another form of medieval theatre
6960-587: The Dublin literary scene: he befriended Patrick Kavanagh , then at the very start of his career. Kavanagh celebrated the birth of Betjeman's daughter with a poem "Candida"; another well-known poem contains the line Let John Betjeman call for me in a car . From March to November 1944 Betjeman was assigned to another wartime job, working on publicity for the Admiralty in Bath . By 1948, Betjeman had published more than
7080-401: The Elizabethan style. Examples of this style are Harlaxton Manor in Lincolnshire ( illustration ), Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire and Sandringham House in Norfolk , England. In June 1835, when the competition was announced for designs for new Houses of Parliament , the terms asked for designs either in the Gothic or the Elizabethan style. The seal was set on the Gothic Revival as
7200-406: The Great , and Cynewulf . Cædmon is the earliest English poet whose name is known, and his only known surviving work Cædmon's Hymn probably dates from the late 7th century. The poem is one of the earliest attested examples of Old English and is, with the runic Ruthwell Cross and Franks Casket inscriptions, one of three candidates for the earliest attested example of Old English poetry. It
7320-404: The Mead in Wantage, until 1971. His daughter Candida was married in the church there in May 1963. Betjeman continued writing guidebooks and works on architecture during the 1960s and 1970s and began to broadcast. Betjeman was closely associated with the culture and spirit of Metro-land , as outer reaches of the Metropolitan Railway were known before the war. In 1967, Betjeman was considered as
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#17327831242447440-481: The Restoration period, the most common manner of getting news would have been a broadsheet publication. A single, large sheet of paper might have a written, usually partisan, account of an event. It is impossible to satisfactorily date the beginning of the novel in English. However, long fiction and fictional biographies began to distinguish themselves from other forms in England during the Restoration period. An existing tradition of Romance fiction in France and Spain
7560-480: The Round Table . It was also the first historiography written in English since the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . Middle English Bible translations , notably Wycliffe's Bible , helped to establish English as a literary language. Wycliffe's Bible is the name now given to a group of Bible translations into Middle English that were made under the direction of, or at the instigation of, John Wycliffe . They appeared between about 1382 and 1395. These Bible translations were
7680-408: The Supernatural . He was susceptible to the supernatural; Diana Mitford recalled Betjeman staying at her country home, Biddesden House in Wiltshire, in the 1920s. She said: "he had a terrifying dream, that he was handed a card with wide black edges, and on it his name was engraved, and a date. He knew this was the date of his death". On 29 July 1933, Betjeman married the Hon. Penelope Chetwode ,
7800-461: The World (1700), and John Vanbrugh 's The Relapse (1696) and The Provoked Wife (1697) were "softer" and more middle-class in ethos, very different from the aristocratic extravaganza twenty years earlier, and aimed at a wider audience. During the 18th century literature reflected the worldview of the Age of Enlightenment (or Age of Reason): a rational and scientific approach to religious, social, political, and economic issues that promoted
7920-422: The academic opportunities. His tutor, a young C. S. Lewis , regarded him as an "idle prig" and Betjeman in turn considered Lewis unfriendly, demanding, and uninspiring as a teacher. Betjeman particularly disliked the coursework's emphasis on linguistics, and dedicated most of his time to cultivating his social life, his interest in English ecclesiastical architecture , and private literary pursuits. At Oxford, he
8040-496: The chief inspiration and cause of the Lollard movement, a pre- Reformation movement that rejected many of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church . Another literary genre, that of Romances , appears in English from the 13th century, with King Horn and Havelock the Dane , based on Anglo-Norman originals such as the Romance of Horn (c. 1170), but it was in the 14th century that major writers in English first appeared. These were William Langland , Geoffrey Chaucer and
8160-428: The continuity of English literature in the half century 1575–1625 use this term. For example, the 1603 death of Elizabeth I falls in the middle of Shakespeare 's career as dramatist: he is both an Elizabethan and a Jacobean writer. John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman , CBE ( / ˈ b ɛ tʃ ə m ən / ; 28 August 1906 – 19 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He
8280-448: The daughter of Field Marshal Lord Chetwode . The couple lived in Berkshire and had a son, Paul, in 1937, and a daughter, Candida , in 1942. She became a Roman Catholic in 1948. The couple drifted apart and in 1951 he met Lady Elizabeth Cavendish , with whom he developed an immediate and lifelong friendship. Betjeman's sexuality can best be described as bisexual . His longest and best documented relationships were with women, and
8400-429: The direction which would be followed by later playwrights. The Spanish Tragedy is an Elizabethan tragedy written by Thomas Kyd between 1582 and 1592, which was popular and influential in its time, and established a new genre in English literature theatre, the revenge play . William Shakespeare (1564–1616) stands out in this period as a poet and playwright as yet unsurpassed. Shakespeare wrote plays in
8520-439: The early 17th century Shakespeare wrote the so-called " problem plays ", as well as a number of his best known tragedies , including Macbeth and King Lear . In his final period, Shakespeare turned to romance or tragicomedy and completed three more major plays, including The Tempest . Less bleak than the tragedies, these four plays are graver in tone than the comedies of the 1590s, but they end with reconciliation and
8640-627: The early 17th century was the King James Bible . This, one of the most massive translation projects in the history of English up to this time, was started in 1604 and completed in 1611. This represents the culmination of a tradition of Bible translation into English that began with the work of William Tyndale , and it became the standard Bible of the Church of England . The Metaphysical poets John Donne (1572–1631) and George Herbert (1593–1633) were still alive after 1625, and later in
8760-506: The early 1970s, he began a recording career of four albums on Charisma Records - Banana Blush , Late Flowering Love (both 1974), Sir John Betjeman's Britain (1977) and Varsity Rag (1981) where his poetry reading is set to music composed by Jim Parker with overdubbing by leading musicians of the time. Madeleine Dring set five of Betjeman's poems to music in 1976, just before her death. His recording catalogue extends to nine albums, four singles and two compilations. In 1973, he made
8880-449: The early Restoration period are the unsentimental or "hard" comedies of John Dryden , William Wycherley , and George Etherege , which reflect the atmosphere at Court, and celebrate an aristocratic macho lifestyle of unremitting sexual intrigue and conquest. After a sharp drop in both quality and quantity in the 1680s, the mid-1690s saw a brief second flowering of the drama, especially comedy. Comedies like William Congreve 's The Way of
9000-476: The end of the Michaelmas term , 1928. Betjeman did pass his Divinity examination on his third try but was expelled after failing the Pass School. He had achieved a satisfactory result in only one of the three required papers (on Shakespeare and other English authors). Betjeman's academic failure at Oxford rankled him for the rest of his life and he was never reconciled with C. S. Lewis, towards whom he nursed
9120-595: The foreword to Derek Linstrum's Historic Architecture of Leeds . Betjeman was for over 20 years a trustee of the Bath Preservation Trust and was vice-president from 1965 to 1971, at a time when Bath —a city rich in Georgian architecture —was coming under increasing pressure from modern developers and a road had been proposed to cut across it. He also created a short television documentary, Architecture of Bath , in which he voiced his concerns about
9240-546: The forgiveness of potentially tragic errors. After Shakespeare's death, the poet and dramatist Ben Jonson (1572–1637) was the leading literary figure of the Jacobean era . Jonson's aesthetics hark back to the Middle Ages and his characters embody the theory of humours , which was based on contemporary medical theory. Jonson's comedies include Volpone (1605 or 1606) and Bartholomew Fair (1614). Others who followed Jonson's style include Beaumont and Fletcher , who wrote
9360-407: The greatest English poets, wrote at this time of religious flux and political upheaval. Milton is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667). Milton's poetry and prose reflect deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. His celebrated Areopagitica , written in condemnation of pre-publication censorship,
9480-498: The height of the English Renaissance. The influence of the Italian Renaissance can also be found in the poetry of Thomas Wyatt (1503–1542), one of the earliest English Renaissance poets. He was responsible for many innovations in English poetry, and alongside Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516/1517–1547) introduced the sonnet from Italy into England in the early 16th century. After William Caxton introduced
9600-648: The house permanently, with his potential liability for £10,000 of renovations upon the expiry of the lease. After damage from vandals, restoration began in 1966. Betjeman's lease included furniture from the house by Burges and Betjeman gave three pieces, the Zodiac settle , the Narcissus washstand and the Philosophy cabinet, to Evelyn Waugh . He edited, and wrote large sections of, The Collins Guide to English Parish Churches (1958); his substantial editorial preface
9720-414: The language. Chaucer is best known today for The Canterbury Tales . This is a collection of stories written in Middle English (mostly in verse although some are in prose ), that are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together from Southwark to the shrine of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral . Chaucer is a significant figure in the development of
9840-457: The last great poet of the English Renaissance" and published a number of works before 1660, including L'Allegro (1631), Il Penseroso (1634), the masque Comus (1638) and Lycidas (1638). However, his major epic works, including Paradise Lost (1667) were published in the Restoration period. Restoration literature includes both Paradise Lost and the Earl of Rochester 's Sodom ,
9960-438: The last three stanzas that proclaim the wonder of Christ's birth do so in the form of a question "And is it true...?" His views on Christianity were expressed in his poem "The Conversion of St. Paul", a response to a radio broadcast by humanist Margaret Knight : But most of us turn slow to see The figure hanging on a tree And stumble on and blindly grope Upheld by intermittent hope, God grant before we die we all May see
10080-439: The legitimacy of the vernacular , Middle English, at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were still French and Latin. At this time, literature in England was being written in various languages, including Latin, Norman-French, and English: the multilingual nature of the audience for literature in the 14th century is illustrated by the example of John Gower (c. 1330–1408). A contemporary of William Langland and
10200-415: The light as did St. Paul. Betjeman's poems are often humorous, and in broadcasting he exploited his bumbling and fogeyish image. His wryly comic verse is accessible and has attracted a great following for its satirical and observant grace. Auden said in his introduction to Slick But Not Streamlined , "so at home with the provincial gaslit towns, the seaside lodgings, the bicycle, the harmonium ." His poetry
10320-422: The literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the "Age of Dryden". He established the heroic couplet as a standard form of English poetry. Dryden's greatest achievements were in satiric verse in works like the mock-heroic MacFlecknoe (1682). Alexander Pope (1688–1744) was heavily influenced by Dryden, and often borrowed from him; other writers in
10440-532: The passage of time, love, beauty and mortality, were first published in a 1609 quarto. Besides Shakespeare and Ben Jonson, the major poets of the early 17th century included the Metaphysical poets : John Donne (1572–1631), George Herbert (1593–1633), Henry Vaughan , Andrew Marvell , and Richard Crashaw . Their style was characterized by wit and metaphysical conceits, that is far-fetched or unusual similes or metaphors. The most important prose work of
10560-627: The period after the settlement of the Saxons and other Germanic tribes in England ( Jutes and the Angles ) c. 450, after the withdrawal of the Romans , and "ending soon after the Norman Conquest" in 1066. These works include genres such as epic poetry , hagiography , sermons , Bible translations, legal works, chronicles and riddles. In all there are about 400 surviving manuscripts from
10680-708: The period. Widsith , which appears in the Exeter Book of the late 10th century, gives a list of kings of tribes ordered according to their popularity and impact on history, with Attila King of the Huns coming first, followed by Eormanric of the Ostrogoths . It may also be the oldest extant work that tells the Battle of the Goths and Huns , which is also told in such later Scandinavian works as Hervarar's saga and Gesta Danorum . Lotte Hedeager argues that
10800-613: The plan of the Minister for the Arts for a Theatre Museum to be housed there. In 1977, the BBC broadcast The Queen's Realm: A Prospect of England , an aerial anthology of English landscape, music and poetry, selected by Betjeman and produced by Edward Mirzoeff, in celebration of the Queen's Silver Jubilee . Betjeman was fond of the ghost stories of M. R. James and supplied an introduction to Peter Haining 's book M. R. James – Book of
10920-614: The popular comedy, The Knight of the Burning Pestle (probably 1607–1608), a satire of the rising middle class. Another popular style of theatre during Jacobean times was the revenge play , which was popularized in the Elizabethan era by Thomas Kyd (1558–1594), and then further developed later by John Webster (c. 1580 – c. 1632), The White Devil (1612) and The Duchess of Malfi (1613). Other revenge tragedies include The Changeling written by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley . George Chapman (c. 1559 – c. 1634)
11040-415: The preface of his collection of architectural essays First and Last Loves he wrote We accept the collapse of the fabrics of our old churches, the thieving of lead and objects from them, the commandeering and butchery of our scenery by the services, the despoiling of landscaped parks and the abandonment to a fate worse than the workhouse of our country houses, because we are convinced we must save money. In
11160-732: The present day. Beowulf is the most famous work in Old English, and has achieved national epic status in England, despite being set in Scandinavia. The only surviving manuscript is the Nowell Codex , the precise date of which is debated, but most estimates place it close to the year 1000. Beowulf is the conventional title, and its composition is dated between the 8th and the early 11th century. Nearly all Anglo-Saxon authors are anonymous: twelve are known by name from medieval sources, but only four of those are known by their vernacular works with any certainty: Cædmon , Bede , Alfred
11280-482: The printing press in England in 1476, vernacular literature flourished. The Reformation inspired the production of vernacular liturgy which led to the Book of Common Prayer (1549), a lasting influence on literary language. Edmund Spenser (c. 1552–1599) was one of the most important poets of the Elizabethan period, author of The Faerie Queene (1590 and 1596), an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating
11400-572: The quintessence of " Merrie Olde England ". A volume of text accompanied the fourth and last volume of plates in 1849, but it was Nash's picturesque illustrations that popularised the style and created a demand for the variations on the English Renaissance styles that was the essence of the newly revived "Jacobethan" vocabulary. Two young architects already providing Jacobethan buildings were James Pennethorne and Anthony Salvin , both later knighted. Salvin's Jacobethan Harlaxton Manor , near Grantham, Lincolnshire , its first sections completed in 1837,
11520-495: The rapid development of the Buckinghamshire town before World War II , Betjeman wrote the ten-stanza poem " Slough " to express his dismay at the industrialisation of Britain. He later came to regret having written it. The poem was first included in his 1937 collection Continual Dew . Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough! It isn't fit for humans now, ... Betjeman had a fondness for Victorian architecture at
11640-420: The representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song. They developed from the 10th to the 16th century, reaching the height of their popularity in the 15th century before being rendered obsolete by the rise of professional theatre. There are four complete or nearly complete extant English biblical collections of plays from the late medieval period. The most complete
11760-720: The second time. He had to leave the university for the Trinity term to prepare for a retake of the exam; he was then allowed to return in October. Betjeman then wrote to the Secretary of the Tutorial Board at Magdalen , G. C. Lee, asking to be entered for the Pass School, a set of examinations taken on rare occasions by undergraduates who are deemed unlikely to achieve an honours degree . In Summoned by Bells Betjeman claims that his tutor, C. S. Lewis, said "You'd have only got
11880-565: The sexual comedy of The Country Wife and the moral wisdom of Pilgrim's Progress . It saw Locke's Two Treatises on Government , the founding of the Royal Society , the experiments and the holy meditations of Robert Boyle , the hysterical attacks on theatres from Jeremy Collier , the pioneering of literary criticism from Dryden, and the first newspapers. The official break in literary culture caused by censorship and radically moralist standards under Cromwell's Puritan regime created
12000-477: The so-called Pearl Poet , whose most famous work is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight . Langland's Piers Plowman (written c. 1360–87) or Visio Willelmi de Petro Plowman ( William's Vision of Piers Plowman ) is a Middle English allegorical narrative poem , written in unrhymed alliterative verse . Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th-century Middle English alliterative romance . It
12120-460: The state the proper and rational instrument of progress. The extreme rationalism and skepticism of the age led naturally to deism and also played a part in bringing the later reaction of romanticism . The Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot epitomized the spirit of the age. The term Augustan literature derives from authors of the 1720s and 1730s themselves, who responded to a term that George I of Great Britain preferred for himself. While George I meant
12240-580: The style in Britain was T. G. Jackson . Some examples can also be found in buildings in the former British Empire, such as Rashtrapati Niwas , the former Viceregal Lodge at Shimla in India. Excellent examples of the style in the United States are Coxe Hall, Williams Hall, and Medbury Hall, which define the West and North sides of the quadrangle of Hobart College in Geneva, NY . Literary studies that emphasise
12360-720: The term "Jacobethan". The term caught on with art historians. Timothy Mowl asserts in The Elizabethan and Jacobean Style (2001) that the Jacobethan style represents the last outpouring of an authentically native genius that was stifled by slavish adherence to European baroque taste. In architecture the style's main characteristics are flattened, cusped "Tudor" arches , lighter stone trims around windows and doors , carved brick detailing, steep roof gables , often terra-cotta brickwork , balustrades and parapets , pillars supporting porches and high chimneys as in
12480-433: The title to reflect his might, they instead saw in it a reflection of Ancient Rome 's transition from rough and ready literature to highly political and highly polished literature. It is an age of exuberance and scandal, of enormous energy and inventiveness and outrage, that reflected an era when English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish people found themselves in the midst of an expanding economy, lowering barriers to education, and
12600-727: The way the city's architectural heritage was being mistreated. From 1946 to 1948, he had served as Secretary to the Oxford Preservation Trust . Betjeman was also instrumental in saving the Duke of Cornwall Hotel in Plymouth . The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings annually presents a John Betjeman award to recognise the repair and conservation of places of worship in England and Wales. The John Betjeman Poetry Competition for Young People began in 2006 and
12720-401: The work is far older, however, and that it likely dates back to the late 6th or early 7th century, citing the author's knowledge of historical details and accuracy as proof of its authenticity. She does note, however, that some authors, such as John Niles , have argued the work was invented in the 10th century. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English , from
12840-572: The writing of Ormulum ( c. 1150 – c. 1180 ), the blending of both Old English and Anglo-Norman elements in English are highlighted for the first time, marking the beginning of the Middle English period. Afterwards, Layamon in Brut adapted the Norman-French of Wace to produce the first English-language work to present the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of
12960-509: 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. Betjeman was born in London to a prosperous silverware maker of Dutch descent. His parents, Mabel ( née Dawson ) and Ernest Betjemann, had
13080-738: Was a friend of Maurice Bowra , later to be Warden of Wadham (1938 to 1970). Betjeman had a poem published in Isis , the university magazine, and served as editor of the Cherwell student newspaper during 1927. His first book of poems was privately printed with the help of fellow student Edward James . He brought his teddy bear Archibald Ormsby-Gore up to Magdalen with him, the memory of which inspired his Oxford contemporary Evelyn Waugh to include Sebastian Flyte 's teddy Aloysius in Brideshead Revisited . Much of this period of his life
13200-538: Was also the time when John Locke wrote many of his philosophical works. His two Treatises on Government, which later inspired the thinkers in the American Revolution . The Restoration moderated most of the more strident sectarian writing, but radicalism persisted after the Restoration. Puritan authors such as John Milton were forced to retire from public life or adapt, and those authors who had preached against monarchy and who had participated directly in
13320-431: Was another important figure in Elizabethan poetry (see Jacobean poetry below). Among the earliest Elizabethan plays are Gorboduc (1561) by Sackville and Norton , and Thomas Kyd 's (1558–1594) The Spanish Tragedy (1592). Gorboduc is notable especially as the first verse drama in English to employ blank verse , and for the way it developed elements, from the earlier morality plays and Senecan tragedy , in
13440-550: Was described by The Times Literary Supplement as "pure gold". The classic status of this book is acknowledged by Simon Jenkins in his England's Thousand Best Churches : "Three ghosts inhabit all English churches ... They are those of John Betjeman, Alec Clifton-Taylor and Nikolaus Pevsner ." Betjeman responded to architecture as the visible manifestation of society's spiritual life as well as its political and economic structure. He attacked speculators and bureaucrats for what he saw as their rapacity and lack of imagination. In
13560-642: Was executed in 1649). The best known of the Cavalier poets are Robert Herrick , Richard Lovelace , Thomas Carew and Sir John Suckling . They "were not a formal group, but all were influenced by" Ben Jonson. Most of the Cavalier poets were courtiers, with notable exceptions. For example, Robert Herrick was not a courtier, but his style marks him as a Cavalier poet. Cavalier works make use of allegory and classical allusions, and are influenced by Roman authors Horace, Cicero and Ovid . John Milton (1608–1674) "was
13680-412: Was knighted after his appointment). This role, combined with his profile from television appearances, ensured that his poetry reached a wider audience. Similarly to Tennyson , he managed to voice the thoughts and aspirations of many ordinary people while retaining the respect of many of his fellow poets. This is partly because of the apparently simple traditional metrical structures and rhymes he uses. In
13800-534: Was no longer in English hands, so that the West Saxon literary language had no more influence than any other dialect and Middle English literature was written in many dialects that corresponded to the region, history, culture, and background of individual writers. In this period religious literature continued to enjoy popularity and Hagiographies were written, adapted and translated: for example, The Life of Saint Audrey , Eadmer 's (c. 1060 – c. 1126). During
13920-487: Was open to 10- to 13-year-olds living anywhere in the British Isles (including the Republic of Ireland), with a first prize of £1,000. In addition to prizes for individual finalists, state schools who enter pupils may win one of six one-day poetry workshops. In 2020, Private Eye reported that the prize was to close after thirteen years. Some works include: English literature English literature
14040-461: Was popular in England. One of the most significant figures in the rise of the novel in the Restoration period is Aphra Behn , author of Oroonoko (1688), who was not only the first professional female novelist, but she may be among the first professional novelists of either sex in England. As soon as the previous Puritan regime's ban on public stage representations was lifted, drama recreated itself quickly and abundantly. The most famous plays of
14160-678: Was rejected for military service in World War II but found war work with the films division of the Ministry of Information . In 1941, he became British press attaché in neutral Dublin , Ireland, working with Sir John Maffey . He is reported to have been selected for murder by the IRA . The order was rescinded after a meeting with an unnamed Old IRA man who was impressed by his works. Betjeman wrote poems based on his experiences in Ireland during
14280-499: Was selected from a shortlist. The finished work was erected in the station at platform level, including a series of slate roundels depicting selections of Betjeman's writings. Betjeman was given the remaining two-year lease on Victorian Gothic architect William Burges 's Tower House in Holland Park after leaseholder Mrs E. R. B. Graham died in 1962. Betjeman felt he could not afford the financial implications of taking over
14400-639: Was the mummers' plays , a form of early street theatre associated with the Morris dance , concentrating on themes such as Saint George and the Dragon and Robin Hood . These were folk tales re-telling old stories, and the actors travelled from town to town performing these for their audiences in return for money and hospitality. Mystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe . Medieval mystery plays focused on
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