This the last of a series of three poems from John Betjeman. These past few days I have enjoyed returning to his Collected Poems. For those who enjoy rhyming couplets it doesn’t get any better than Betjeman’s poem A Bay in Anglesey. The photo above is of Cable Bay, Porth Castell in Anglesey, but I have no idea which of the many bays the poet had in his mind’s eye as he wrote his poem. As summer comes to a close I leave you with a last memory of summer days spent at the seaside. I love it when poets remind us of such great words and introduce us to words for the first time. Pause and ponder this delightful rhyming couplet. I will write my next blog at the end of September.
A Bay In Anglesey by John Betjeman
The sleepy sound of a tea-time tide
Slaps at the rocks the sun has dried,
Too lazy, almost, to sink and lift
Round low peninsulas pink with thrift.
The water, enlarging shells and sand,
Grows greener emerald out from land
And brown over shadowy shelves below
The waving forests of seaweed show.
Here at my feet in the short cliff grass
Are shells, dried bladderwrack, broken glass,
Pale blue squills and yellow rock roses.
The next low ridge that we climb discloses
One more field for the sheep to graze
While, scarcely seen on this hottest of days,
Far to the eastward, over there,
Snowdon rises in pearl-grey air.
Multiple lark-song, whispering bents,
The thymy, turfy and salty scents
And filling in, brimming in, sparkling and free
The sweet susurration of incoming sea.
Prayer:
Loving God, to you, O creator
we offer our prayer.
Creator of
sky and sea,
mountain and meadow,
night and day,
summer and autumn,
winter and spring, we rejoice in the beauty
of all that is before us in landscape and seasons.
Forgive us, we pray, for the ways in which we have abused
and spoiled your creation.
We give thanks for the scientists and poets
who have become prophets in our midst
calling our attention to the perils of our planet.
Encourage us to believe we can and must make a difference
not only for ourselves but also for the generations which follow us.
Loving God, hear our prayer and strengthen our will to do your will. Amen.
Prayers, Poems, and Christian Ponderings 
It has taken me awhile to read, and listen to Church Going, and to read both of Betjeman’s poems, and to consider the meaning of each for me. While I have always loved exploring all kinds of church buildings, new and old, here and abroad, rural and urban, I probably leave them with a much more positive experience at heart than Larkin’s visitor, however I have one very vivid memory of stepping into a place of worship and feeling deeply disappointed. It happened when a fire devastated the sanctuary of my childhood church. I never saw the actual damage. The idea was upsetting but all of the adults kept saying not to worry, that it would be repaired and would be better than ever. That gave me great relief until I saw the result. It was unfamiliar, different, modern and while at the time I wouldn’t have used the terms, it seemed cold and impersonal. Everyone said it was the people who filled it that mattered.
It is easy to find pleasure in Sunday Morning, King’s Cambridge through Betjeman’s bold descriptions of the sights and sounds of Anglican life. I chuckle to myself being reminded of a small, historic church in this community, long abandoned, then repurposed as a B&B, and now becoming a congregation once again and being restored to its Anglican origin, but including a coffee shop called Holy Grounds.
Last, I love rhyming couplets, those delightful chunks of words which help poetry make sense, one thought at a time. Which bay? Would it perhaps be Cardigan Bay since Snowden can be seen from there?
Enough of my rambling, thanks for the delightful posts.
LikeLike
The last two posts have brought back many memories of Anglesey, and Kings College, I visited and knew both places as a child and young person, and have always loved these two poems. Enjoy September, “ season of mists and mellow fruitfulness “ June M.
LikeLike