Bonhams 1793 : BETJEMAN, Sir JOHN (1906-1984, poet, author and broadcaster)

The poem, with shades of 'A Subaltern's Love Song': 'Miss J. Hunter Dunn, Miss J. Hunter Dunn...', is best-known for the third and fourth stanzas:

Pam I adore you, Pam, you great big mountainous sports girl
Whizzing them over the net, full of the strength of five
That Old Malvernian brother you zephyr & khaki shorts girl
Although he's playing for Woking
Can't stand up to your wonderful back hand drive

See the strength of her arm as firm & hairy as Hendrens
See the size of her thighs & pout of her lips as cross
And full of a pent up strength she swipes at the rhododendrons
Lucky the rhododendrons
And flings her arrogant love lock
Back with a petulant toss...

These manuscripts differ from the final text in Collected Poems (30 lines) in their punctuation, the set-up of some lines and in some variant readings they retain. Part of one line in the draft reads 'Freckled your legs & ankles' instead of 'That Old Malvernian brother', which comes in the following line.