Newly launched information reveal bitter infighting over Poet Laureate appointment

Some of Britain’s best-loved Twentieth-century writers had been denounced as drunkards, snobs and authors of maximum pornography throughout a search to fill the celebrated function of Poet Laureate, newly launched paperwork have revealed.

Sir John Betjeman, who famously penned the poem Slough, was initially neglected for the honorary function as a result of he was thought of a light-weight “versifier” who lacked critical advantage, in line with the official information.

WH Auden and Robert Graves, considered the main poets of the day, had been additionally dominated out for the function in 1968, following the demise of John Masefield.

It finally fell to Cecil Day-Lewis, father of actor Sir Daniel Day-Lewis, who was finally appointed by Queen Elizabeth II on the recommendation of then prime minister, Harrold Wilson.

Now authorities papers, launched by the National Archives in Kew, have revealed the extraordinary infighting and backbiting behind the choice.

Following the demise of Masefield, Number 10 Appointments Secretary Sir John Hewitt was tasked to take soundings on who might tackle the celebrated function.

Auden and Graves had been dismissed for varied causes, leaving Betjeman and Day-Lewis because the frontrunners.

But Betjeman – maybe best-known now for his strains “Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!/It isn’t fit for humans now” – confronted opposition.

According to the papers, Lord Goodman, chairman of the Arts Council and Mr Wilson’s private authorized adviser, warned that to supply Betjeman the submit “would not be to take the matter seriously”.

“The songster of tennis lawns and cathedral cloisters does not, it seems to me, make a very suitable incumbent for the poet laureateship of a new and vital world in which we hope we are living,” he wrote dismissively.

“An aroma of lavender and faint musk is really not right for an appointment of this kind at this moment.”

Day-Lewis was chosen for the function, however he too confronted opposition, mainly from Geoffrey Handley-Taylor, chairman of the Poetry Society, who described him as not more than “a good administrative poet”.

He held the function for 4 years till his demise in 1972, which sparked a brand new and equally bitter choice course of.

Despite not being eligible for the function after shifting to America and taking US citizenship on the outbreak of the Second World War, Auden was once more put ahead as a front-runner.

However, there was hypothesis that he might return to the UK and reclaim his British nationality to be able to take the submit.

In a letter to Number 10, Jon Stallworthy, one other poet and literary critic, wrote: “For him now to turn his coat again would make a mockery of the laureateship.”

Then got here accusations from Ross McWhirter, co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records.

According to the federal government papers, he contacted Sir John and accused Auden of penning a pornographic poem, named The Gobble, which had appeared anonymously in a publication referred to as Suck. The first Europe Sex Paper No 1.

“He then produced a copy of the paper and showed me the poem by ‘WH Auden’ which ran to about 30 verses of an utterly revolting character,” Sir John wrote.

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“His concern was that, if Mr Auden were appointed to the position, a further publication of this poem would take place and that this would bring disgrace upon the appointment itself and would reflect upon Her Majesty The Queen.”

Leonard Clark – a former HM Inspector of Schools and an outdoor contender for the submit – additionally weighed into the competition.

In a collection of letters to Sir John, he warned that Ted Hughes was “unsuitable”, having written “too much in a violent strain”, whereas Stephen Spender had develop into a “non-poet”.

Graves, he wrote, was too outdated and “wedded to Majorca”, the place he spent a lot of the latter years of his life.

Meanwhile, Sir John wrote to Wilson showing to dismiss Adrian Mitchell, a passionate supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and somebody he mentioned had placed on a “vulgar display at Southwark Cathedral when you were there”.

Betjeman was later given the function, with Sir admitting that his earlier dismissal as “just a versifier” was unfair.

“A fairer criticism would, I think, be to say that Betjeman is by no means the most eminent English poet, although he may be the best candidate for the poet laureateship at this stage,” he advised Mr Heath, lastly clearing the best way for his appointment.