It's nice to see a Betjeman thread at the top of the heap. He has always been one of my favorite poets although it's hard to pin down exactly what makes him so special. It's more than the "twee" factor, though rarely are poets so unabashedly nostalgic and camp (lines like "Oh, chintzy, chintzy cheeriness" and "That burning buttercuppy day" spring to mind). If he is a minor poet, so be it; he had an arresting voice and there wasn't and still isn't someone remotely like him. To an American boy born in the late eighties, Betjeman represented everything I considered to be British: the 50s-style propriety, the quirky place names, the soft sadness settling everywhere like dust in a polished living room. There probably never really was a Britain like that, and it certainly wasn't like that when I lived in London for a brief time, but he captures a sense of place so well and his poem emit sadness and warmth at the same time. Plus, his love poetry is punchy and smart. Myfanwy and Joan and Wendy, oh my.
On a different note, I once recited "A Subaltern's Love Song" to my roommate who cares nothing for poetry. He responded, "See, that's a good poem. You can tell the poet could actually write." Exactly.
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