John Clare

Clare's highly personal evocations of landscape and place are some of the most poignant lyrics in English poetry. His celebration of all forms of natural life and his laments for the death of rural England grew directly out of his intimate knowledge of the labourer's life, the wheatfields and hedgerows of his village in Northamptonshire. This authoritative and engaging selection includes poems from every stage of Clare's poetic career, organised by theme, from 'Birds and Beasts' to 'Madhouses, Prisons and Whorehouses'.

Selected Poems

From " I stood tip toe upon a little Hill

Klára Kováčiková 

Where swarms of minnows show their little heads, 

Staying their wavy bodies against the streams, 

Tempered with coolness. How they ever wrestle

With their own sweet delight, and ever nestle......

Of this fair world, and all its gentle Livers 

Spangler of clouds, halo of crystal rivers,

Mingler with leaves, and dew and tumbling streams,

Selected Poems quotes

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