Product Description

Sir John Betjeman was one of the twentieth century's great makers of the Christian imagination. He was may be 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. The book is directed at three main audiences: poetry readers unfamiliar with Betjeman and his faith, readers interested in literature from a Christian perspective (C. S. Lewis or George Herbert) and, more narrowly, Christians who may be interested in discovering poetry that explores their faith. Betjeman's poetry has and continues to sell extremely well (Between two and three million copies of his Collected 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 who have not read much of his work. 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #489707 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 200 pages

About the Author
Kevin Gardner is Professor of English Literature at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He is now writing a scholarly monograph on Betjeman's Christian imagination.

Customer Reviews

An excellent anthology of Betjeman's religious verse
This book is an excellent introduction to the religious verse of John Betjeman and is presented in a very easy-to-read style. The book introduces each group of poems with background details and light commentary on the poems along with biographical information on the poet which helps to explain the content.

The themes in the anthology include death, spiritual doubts and fears, belief, vanity and hypocrisy in the church and the church in society and include many of his most well-known poems including "Slough" and "Diary of a Church Mouse."

This is an excellent book for those who want to study Betjeman's religious verse or who want to read the thoughts of one whose faith was often tested and unsure but who loved the Church of England as a vital part of England.

A great book for those unfamiliar with Betjeman and his faith
Betjeman is perhaps best known as a poet who wonderfully and memorably captured the spirit of an England that is sadly no longer with us, and this book explores the vital role that his faith played in his life and his poetry.

Far from being full of gushing sentimentality, the poems in this volume cover every aspect of Betjeman's faith, including his regular periods of doubt and uncertainty, his clearly stated fear of death, and his light-hearted exposure of the vanity and hypocrisy in his beloved Church of England. These themes are, of course, offset by many of his uplifting and widely-known poems which have contributed to his popularity.

The commentary provided by Kevin Gardner is helpful and instructive. Gardner himself (a resident of Waco in Texas) is both an Associate Professor of English Literature, and also an active member of his local church, and it is perhaps natural that the book grew out of his leading a study class in his church.

For the reader of poetry who wishes to have a selection of Betjeman's most openly religious works in one volume, this book represents an ideal place to start.

Why only four stars? Just a minor quibble: of the 85 poems in the volume, all but 17 are already to be found in Betjeman's Collected Poems, so if the commentary is not so important, you may wish to buy the more comprehensive collection