Thame Betjeman Connection
Not many people realise that John Betjeman is known to have visited Thame in the company of Sir Harold Acton, and to have written some lines in the garden of the Spread Eagle Hotel(the garden is now the hotel’s car park).
As a tribute to John Betjeman in his centenary year, Thame Players are planning to put on a special evening entertainment at the Players Theatre, in Nelson Street, on November 17.
In conjunction with the event, pre theatre suppers will be available at The Spread Eagle’s Fothergills Braserie. Reservations can be made by calling 01844 213661.
The lines of poem read:
COUNTRY noises do not shake
The surface of the silent lake,
The silent lake through which I see
Is life and death at one in me.
Country noises have no power
In this diversitv of flower.
Drop by drop the footsteps fall
Outside the sunny garden wall;
The swooping of the chapel choir,
The crackle of the garden fire
And barking dogs where children play
And windows flung across the way.
These sounds are very much the same
Each Sunday afternoon in Thame.
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I don’t personally have any more knowledge about the poem but I have just tweeted the Betjeman Society @BetjSoc to ask. I can let you know, or, if you’re on twitter, you could hop over their yourself and see if they can throw any light on the subject. I would guess though that the words are so pertinent to such a small audience, that it probably wouldn’t have been worth officially publishing. But you never know.
Hello. About these lines written by Betjeman that you quote. I’m now looking at an autograph Betjeman poem titled ‘Country Silence’ and the first half of it is exactly as in your quotation. I can’t find any evidence that the poem was published. I would be grateful for anything further that you can tell me about it.