John Betjeman.  A Subaltern's Love Song.

John Betjeman. A Subaltern's Love Song.

Author: Poetry from the Jungle from The Ceylon Press January 16, 2025 Duration: 3:21

Miss J.Hunter Dunn, Miss J.Hunter Dunn,
Furnish'd and burnish'd by Aldershot sun,
What strenuous singles we played after tea,
We in the tournament - you against me!

Love-thirty, love-forty, oh! weakness of joy,
The speed of a swallow, the grace of a boy,
With carefullest carelessness, gaily you won,
I am weak from your loveliness, Joan Hunter Dunn

Miss Joan Hunter Dunn, Miss Joan Hunter Dunn,
How mad I am, sad I am, glad that you won,
The warm-handled racket is back in its press,
But my shock-headed victor, she loves me no less.

Her father's euonymus shines as we walk,
And swing past the summer-house, buried in talk,
And cool the verandah that welcomes us in
To the six-o'clock news and a lime-juice and gin.

The scent of the conifers, sound of the bath,
The view from my bedroom of moss-dappled path,
As I struggle with double-end evening tie,
For we dance at the Golf Club, my victor and I.

On the floor of her bedroom lie blazer and shorts,
And the cream-coloured walls are be-trophied with sports,
And westering, questioning settles the sun,
On your low-leaded window, Miss Joan Hunter Dunn.

The Hillman is waiting, the light's in the hall,
The pictures of Egypt are bright on the wall,
My sweet, I am standing beside the oak stair
And there on the landing's the light on your hair.

By roads "not adopted", by woodlanded ways,
She drove to the club in the late summer haze,
Into nine-o'clock Camberley, heavy with bells
And mushroomy, pine-woody, evergreen smells.

Miss Joan Hunter Dunn, Miss Joan Hunter Dunn,
I can hear from the car park the dance has begun,
Oh! Surrey twilight! importunate band!
Oh! strongly adorable tennis-girl's hand!

Around us are Rovers and Austins afar,
Above us the intimate roof of the car,
And here on my right is the girl of my choice,
With the tilt of her nose and the chime of her voice.

And the scent of her wrap, and the words never said,
And the ominous, ominous dancing ahead.
We sat in the car park till twenty to one
And now I'm engaged to Miss Joan Hunter Dunn.


There's a particular magic in the poem that almost made it, the one that lingers just outside the canonical spotlight. 101 Exiles from The Ceylon Press is a quiet space dedicated to those verses. Each episode of this Poetry from the Jungle podcast is a curated listening experience, focusing on a single, remarkable work by an acclaimed poet that, for whatever reason, never quite cracked the ubiquitous "top 100" lists. You won't find grand introductions or academic dissections here. Instead, the focus is on the language itself-the rhythm, the imagery, the quiet turn of phrase that deserves a moment of undivided attention. It's for anyone who believes the most resonant lines are sometimes found in the margins, offering a different kind of discovery in the world of verse. This podcast provides a sanctuary for those exiled poems, letting them speak for themselves directly to the listener.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 32

101 Exiles
Podcast Episodes
John Betjeman.  Indoor Games Near Newbury. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:19
In among the silver birches,Winding ways of tarmac wanderAnd the signs to Bussock Bottom,Tussock Wood and Windy Break.Gabled lodges, tile-hung churchesCatch the lights of our LagondaAs we drive to Wendy’s party,Lemon cur…
Philip Larkin.  Aubade. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:52
I work all day, and get half-drunk at night. Waking at four to soundless dark, I stare. In time the curtain-edges will grow light. Till then I see what’s really always there: Unresting death, a whole day nearer now, Maki…
C. P. Cavafy.  Ionian. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:12
Just because we've torn their statues down,and cast them from their temples,doesn't for a moment mean the gods are dead.Land of Ionia, they love you yet,their spirits still remember you.When an August morning breaks upon…
Philip Larkin.   Going, Going. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:00
I thought it would last my time—The sense that, beyond the town,There would always be fields and farms,Where the village louts could climbSuch trees as were not cut down;I knew there’d be false alarms In the papers about…
John Betjeman.  In Westminster Abbey. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:26
Let me take this other glove offAs the vox humana swells,And the beauteous fields of EdenBask beneath the Abbey bells.Here, where England's statesmen lie,Listen to a lady's cry.Gracious Lord, oh bomb the Germans,Spare th…
Philip Larkin.  The Trees. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:20
The trees are coming into leafLike something almost being said;The recent buds relax and spread,Their greenness is a kind of grief.Is it that they are born againAnd we grow old? No, they die too,Their yearly trick of loo…
John Betjeman.  Inexpensive Progress. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:30
Encase your legs in nylons,Bestride your hills with pylonsO age without a soul;Away with gentle willowsAnd all the elmy billowsThat through your valleys roll.Let's say goodbye to hedgesAnd roads with grassy edgesAnd wind…
C. P. Cavafy.  Waiting For The Barbarians. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:33
What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum? The barbarians are due here today.Why isn’t anything going on in the senate?Why are the senators sitting there without legislating? Because the barbarians are coming today…
Philip Larkin.  Born Yesterday. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:33
Tightly-folded bud,I have wished you somethingNone of the others would:Not the usual stuffAbout being beautiful,Or running off a springOf innocence and love —They will all wish you that,And should it prove possible,Well,…
Rupert Brooke.  The Hill. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:43
Breathless, we flung us on the windy hill,Laughed in the sun, and kissed the lovely grass.You said, "Through glory and ecstasy we pass;Wind, sun, and earth remain, the birds sing still,When we are old, are old. . . ." "A…