Betjeman, John (1906-1984)

English poet and essayist. He was the originator of a peculiarly English light verse, nostalgic, and delighting in Victorian and Edwardian architecture. He also wrote prose works on architecture and social history which reflect his interest in the Gothic Revival. His Collected Poems appeared in 1958 and a verse autobiography, Summoned by Bells, in 1960. Betjeman's verse, seen by some as facile, has been much enjoyed for its compassion and wit, and its evocation of places and situations. He was knighted in 1969 and became poet laureate in 1972.

Betjeman was born in London and educated at Oxford University. During World War II he had a post at the Admiralty, and after that worked for a time for the British Council. He was a contemporary of English-born poet W H Auden at Oxford, but he had little in common with the poets of the 1930s. His verse is traditional in form - favouring iambic lines and a conversational clarity - and subject matter. He recalls with great precision and affection details of his childhood in north London and holidays in Cornwall.

A Nip in the Air (1972) and High and Low (1976) are collections of later verse. His books on architecture include Ghastly Good Taste (1933), A Pictorial History of English Architecture (1972), and West Country Churches (1973). His letters, edited by his daughter, Candida Lycett Green, were published in two volumes (1994 and 1995).