Faith and Doubt of John Betjeman : An Anthology of His Religious Verse

Sir John Betjeman was one of the twentieth century's great makers of the Christian imagination. He was maybe the most significant literary figure of our time to declare his Christian faith and his terror of dying. Betjeman used his formidable gifts for poetry to show us how to think about the Anglican faith and about Englishness and Christianity in general. Here is an anthology of about 75 poems on religious themes, with clarifying footnotes and a critical introduction that offers an overview of his life and poetry as well as a commentary on some of his more difficult poems. Here is a new perspective on Betjeman's life and beliefs. This new edition of Betjeman's religious poetry will demonstrate that Betjeman is the great poet of the Church in the twentieth century; it will also introduce delightful, accessible and important poetry to new readers. It will suggest to both British and American readers ways of thinking about spiritual cultural and ecclesiastical matters as well as about the intersection of literature and art. Sir John Betjeman was one of the twentieth century's great makers of the Christian imagination. He was maybe the most significant literary figure of our time to declare his Christian faith and his terror of dying. Betjeman used his formidable gifts for poetry to show us how to think about the Anglican faith and about Englishness and Christianity in general. Here is an anthology of about 75 poems on religious themes, with clarifying footnotes and a critical introduction that offers an overview of his life and poetry as well as a commentary on some of his more difficult poems. Here is a new perspective on Betjeman's life and beliefs. This new edition of Betjeman's religious poetry will demonstrate that Betjeman is the great poet of the Church in the twentieth century; it will also introduce delightful, accessible and important poetry to new readers. It will suggest to both British and American readers ways of thinking about spiritual cultural and ecclesiastical matters as well as about the intersection of literature and art. Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1 Spiritual Doubts and Fears -- N.W.5 & N.6 -- Calvinistic Evensong -- Matlock Bath -- Original Sin on the Sussex Coast -- Norfolk -- Narcissus -- Archibald -- Before the Anaesthetic -- Goodbye -- Fruit -- On Leaving Wantage 1972 -- Loneliness -- Aldershot Crematorium -- 2 Death -- For Nineteenth-Century Burials -- Devonshire Street W.1 -- Death in Leamington -- The Cottage Hospital -- House of Rest -- Variations on a Theme -- Variation on a Theme -- I.M. Walter Ramsden -- Inevitable -- Five o'Clock Shadow -- Old Friends -- On a Portrait of a Deaf Man -- Remorse -- The Last Laugh -- 3 Belief -- The Commander -- Felixstowe -- Saint Cadoc -- The Conversion of St Paul -- Uffington -- Wantage Bells -- Autumn 1964 -- Churchyards -- Lenten Thoughts of a High Anglican -- Advent 1955 -- Christmas -- In Willesden Churchyard -- A Lincolnshire Church -- 4 The Church in Society -- St Saviour's, Aberdeen Park, Highbury, London, N. -- Bristol -- Holy Trinity, Sloane Street -- Sunday Morning, King's Cambridge -- Verses Turned -- On Hearing the Full Peal of Ten Bells -- Village Wedding -- Church of England Thoughts -- City -- Monody on the Death of Aldersgate Street Station -- Distant View of a Provincial Town -- Septuagesima -- Sunday Afternoon Service in St Enodoc Church -- 5 Vanity and Hypocrisy in the Church -- Hymn -- Electric Light and Heating -- The Friends of the Cathedral -- Not Necessarily Leeds -- St Barnabas, Oxford -- Exchange of Livings -- Blame the Vicar -- The Parochial Church Council -- Diary of a Church Mouse -- Guilt -- Bristol and Clifton -- St. Mary Magdalen, Old Fish Street Hill -- In Westminster Abbey -- 6 The Decline of England -- Lines Written to Martyn Skinner -- Hertfordshire -- Delectable Duchy -- Cheshire -- Harvest Hymn -- The Dear Old Village -- Inexpensive Progress

Sir John Betjeman was one of the twentieth century's great makers of the Christian imagination. He was maybe the most significant literary figure of our time to declare his Christian faith and his terror of dying. Betjeman used his formidable gifts for poetry to show us how to think about the Anglican faith and about Englishness and Christianity in general. Here is an anthology of about 75 poems on religious themes, with clarifying footnotes and a critical introduction that offers an overview of his life and poetry as well as a commentary on some of his more difficult poems.

Here is a new perspective on Betjeman's life and beliefs. This new edition of Betjeman's religious poetry will demonstrate that Betjeman is the great poet of the Church in the twentieth century; it will also introduce delightful, accessible and important poetry to new readers. It will suggest to both British and American readers ways of thinking about spiritual cultural and ecclesiastical matters as well as about the intersection of literature and art.

The Planster's Vision -- The Town Clerk's Views -- Huxley Hall -- Chelsea 1977 -- Slough -- 7 The Ecumenical Church -- An Eighteenth-Century Calvinistic Hymn -- Undenominational -- The Sandemanian Meeting-House -- Greek Orthodox -- Anglo-Catholic Congresses -- An Ecumenical Invitation -- The Empty Pew This collection illustrates the vital role of faith in the formation of this great poet and provides a new perspective on Betjeman's life and beliefs, demonstrating that Betjeman is one of the great poets of the Church in the 20th century