Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows.

Eliot. Betjeman wrote a number of poems based on his experiences in "Emergency" World War II Ireland including "The Irish Unionist's Farewell to Greta Hellstrom in 1922" (actually written during the war) which contained the refrain "Dungarvan in the rain". e.

Starting his career as a journalist he ended it as one of the most popular British Poets Laureate to date and a much-loved figure on British television. : /ˈbɛtʃəmən/; 28 August 1906 – 19 May 1984) was an English poet writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".