Betjeman's Wykehamist - Probably not someone you want to have dinner with (although they would be cheap to feed)
The Wykehamist by Betjeman is a real delight. The Wykehamist is a composite of parts of the boys I met during my time at Winchester College. Although Winchester College has changed enormously since the poem was published, at lunch in College last year, I found that there are still boys who burst with enthusiasm about esoteric academic subjects. Betjeman is spot on with the interests, although, watching the boys hoeing into pudding, I doubt that the corner of a petit beurre, (possibly the most boring biscuit on the planet), would suffice. Learn it by heart as a piece of performance poetry which you can pull out at dinner parties to awe the crowd. The Wykehamist by John Betjeman Broad of Church and broad of mind, Broad before and broad behind, A keen ecclesiologist, A rather dirty Wykehamist. ’Tis not for us to wonder why He wears that curious knitted tie; We should not cast reflections on The very slightest kind of don. We should not giggle as...
