Get Your Premium Membership

The Olympic Girl

 The sort of girl I like to see
Smiles down from her great height at me.
She stands in strong, athletic pose And wrinkles her retrouss? nose.
Is it distaste that makes her frown, So furious and freckled, down On an unhealthy worm like me? Or am I what she likes to see? I do not know, though much I care, xxxxxxxx.
.
.
.
.
would I were (Forgive me, shade of Rupert Brooke) An object fit to claim her look.
Oh! would I were her racket press'd With hard excitement to her breast And swished into the sunlit air Arm-high above her tousled hair, And banged against the bounding ball "Oh! Plung!" my tauten'd strings would call, "Oh! Plung! my darling, break my strings For you I will do brilliant things.
" And when the match is over, I Would flop beside you, hear you sigh; And then with what supreme caress, You'd tuck me up into my press.
Fair tigress of the tennis courts, So short in sleeve and strong in shorts, Little, alas, to you I mean, For I am bald and old and green.

Poem by John Betjeman
Biography | Poems | Best Poems | Short Poems | Quotes | Email Poem - The Olympic GirlEmail Poem | Create an image from this poem

Poems are below...



Summaries, Analysis, and Information on "The Olympic Girl"

Sorry, no articles found.

More Information

More Poems by John Betjeman


Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry