Summoned By Bells A Life In Verse

'For myself/ I knew as soon as I could read and write/ That I must be a poet. Even today,/ When all the way from Cambridge comes a wind/ To blow the lamps out every time they're lit/ I know that I must light mine up again.' From his earliest boyhood memories of Highgate and Archibald, his old stuffed bear, through to his undergraduate years at Oxford and his early career, John Betjeman’s unique narrative style poignantly describes the pains and pleasures of growing up. In the much-loved tones of Sir John himself, this magnificent autobiography in verse captures the voice of the late Poet Laureate. ‘Summoned by Bells can hardly help being a landmark... one seems to be living his childhood and boyhood with him’ - Stephen Spender.