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JOHN BETJEMAN - Poet, essayist and broadcaster was born on 28th August 1906 near Highgate, London. He had a great love for all things Victorian and during his life did much to encourage interest in the preservation of fine architecture.  In 1969 he was knighted and he became Poet Laureate in 1972.

It appears that his childhood was a lonely one - in fact his only friend seems to have been his teddy bear Archibald.

This is a short extract from his blank verse autobiography "Summoned by  Bells"  (In the first line, the reference is to the 1914-18 war)

Safe were those evenings of the pre-war world

When firelight shone on green linoleum;

I heard the church bells hollowing out the sky,

Deep beyond deep, like never-ending stars,

And turned to Archibald, my safe old bear,

Whose woollen eyes looked sad or glad at me,

Whose ample forehead I could wet with tears,

Whose half-moon ears received my confidence,

Who made me laugh, who never let me down.

I used to wait for hours to see him move,

Convinced that he could breathe. One dreadful day

They hid him from me as a punishment:

Sometimes the desolation of that loss

Comes back to me and I must go upstairs

To see him in the sawdust, so to speak,

Safe and returned to his idolator.

John Betjeman died on 19th May 1984 at his home in Trebetheric, Cornwall and was buried at nearby St.Enodoc's Church.

"Summoned by Bells" was published in 1960 by John Murray and a later edition with illustrations by Hugh Casson was published by Murray in 1989

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The Kiyomizu-dera temple at Kyoto in Japan is a wooden structure built on the side of a mountain. It has its origins in the year 798, but the present building dates from 1633. The Japanese have a saying “to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu” - the English equivalent is “to take the plunge.” It appears that at one time certain brave (or foolish) people would jump from the stage there, a 13m jump, and those who survived would have their wish granted.

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AS I GREW OLDER

Langston Hughes 1902-67

It was a long time ago.
I have almost forgotten my dream.
But it was there then,
In front of me,
Bright like a sun -
My dream.

And then the wall rose,
Rose slowly,
Slowly,
Between me and my dream.
Rose until it touched the sky -
The wall.

Shadow.
I am black.
I lie down in the shadow.
No longer the light of my dream before me,
Above me.
Only the thick wall.

Only the shadow.
My hands!
My dark hands!
Break through the wall!
Find my dream!

Help me to shatter this darkness,
To smash this night,
To break this shadow
Into a thousand lights of sun,
Into a thousand whirling dreams
Of sun!

Langston Hughes was a famous American poet, social activist, novelist and playwright

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"Pokarekare Ana" is a traditional Maori song which dates from the time of the First World War. The singer here is Hayley Westenra the New Zealand classical crossover artist and song writer. She serves as a UNICEF Ambassador. The video, which provides an English translation, was uploaded by AedeusLeonora

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JOHN'S QUIET CORNER
is updated every Friday

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Thanks to http://www.stumbleupon.com for the picture

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When I started to learn, I thought I was smart.
The more I learned, the smarter I thought I was.
Then, one day, I realized that the more I learn,
the more I know, the more I know that I do not know.

I stopped thinking that I was smart.
In fact, I began to realize that I was a fool.
The more I learned, the more foolish I realized I was.
One day, I realized how complete my foolishness was.
On that day, I felt liberated.

Those lines were written by Chade-Meng Tan, a software engineer and motivator at Google. It's worth having a quick look at his website www.chademeng.com

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HELEN BEATRIX POTTER

The famous writer of children's books was born into a wealthy Unitarian family on 28th July 1866.

Her parents were both artistic and had a keen interest in nature and the countryside. Beatrix and her young brother Walter had many small animals as pets and they would happily spend hours drawing them.

She was educated by governesses and had a private tutor for art lessons.

In 1893 she wrote The Tale of Peter Rabbit for the five-year old son of one of her governesses and with her illustrations the book was published in 1901.

Once upon a time there were four little rabbits, and their names were - Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail and Peter. They lived with their mother in a sandbank, underneath the root of a very big fir tree.

“Now, my dears,” said Mrs. Rabbit one morning, “You may go into the fields or down the lane, but don’t go into Mr. McGregor’s garden;  your father had an accident there; he was put into a pie by Mrs. McGregor.”

         

In 1913, when she was 47, Beatrix married William Heelis a local solicitor.

Apart from her writing - she published more than twenty-three books - she was a successful farmer and a breeder of prize Herdwick sheep.

Beatrix died on 22nd December 1943, leaving most of her property to the National Trust. This was the largest gift the Trust had received at that time, and it included more than 4,000 acres of land, 16 farms, cottages, cattle and sheep.

More information can be found at the Peter Rabbit website www.peterrabbit.com

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"The Mirror"

Frank Dicksee 1853-1928

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MELISSA VENEMA age 17 plays Nino Rosso's trumpet piece "Il Silenzio" accompanied by the Metropolitan Orchestra at Carre Amsterdam. Uploaded by Trompet8310

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JOHN'S QUIET CORNER will be updated every Friday

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