The Plantster's Vision

John Betjeman

Cut down that timber! Bells, too many and strong,
    Pouring their music through the branches bare,
    From moon-white church towers down the windy air
Have pealed the centuries out with Evensong.

Remove those cottages, a huddled throng!
    Too many babies have been born in there,
    Too many coffins, bumping down the stair,
Carried the old their garden paths along.

I have a Vision of the Future, chum,
    The workers’ flats in fields of soya beans
        Tower up like silver pencils, score on score:
And Surging Millions hear the Challenge come
    From microphones in communal canteens
        “No Right! No Wrong! All’s perfect, evermore!”

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