John Betjeman
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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 summerhouse,
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.
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I have the same question as Peter Madden about buying a copy of this most evocative picture. Can anybody help please with name of the artist or any info.
S.Taylor, Chester,
NB the misprint in the antepenultimate verse as recorded here, which should read 'Oh! full Surrey twilight !".
Stephen Drew, Cambridge,
Tremendous article on Miss Joan Hunter Dunn. Many thanks for enlightening me and bringing to my attention this wonderful poem. Together with picture it evoked a nostalgic atmosphere of time and place.
Can you tell me the name of the artist as I would love to obtain a print of it.
Many thanks again.
Peter Madden
Peter Madden, Parbold, Lancashire UK
I love this poem so much, I was sorry to hear of Miss J. Hunter Dunn's death.
Blue Baby, London,