Anyone for tennis-inspired verse? ... Joan Hunter Dunn
Since 1984, I had always rather assumed that John Betjeman - whose enduring popularity is the subject of another post today - lived on only in his poetry. Strictly speaking of course, this is true. But it was still rather a shock to discover in today's Times that one of his most memorable images was still walking around until last week.
To be honest, I had not imagined that Joan Hunter Dunn, the subject of his puppy-eyed paean to sporty English beauty, A Subaltern's Love Song, actually existed. Did any young tennis players from the Aldershot area ever actually possess both the speed of a swallow and the grace of a boy?
Betjeman thought so, and the obituaries do make her sound like a memorably sunny individual, whether thanks to Aldershot's climate or not. More surprisingly still, she was living in a London nursing home until last Friday. Which makes you wonder, are there any other muses whose electric beauty has fuelled celebrated poems still about the place?
Where are today's Lauras, Maud Gonnes, Lou Andreas-Salomés? Why don't we know more male muses? And can I hope to improve my own writing if I bump into any of them?
