John Clare
John Clare
I have been told this picture makes a great desktop, set centre with white background.
John Clare's life spanned one of the great ages of English poetry but, until about fifty years ago, few would have thought of putting his name with those of Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley, Keats, Browning and Tennyson.
Born in 1793, the son of humble and almost illiterate parents, Clare grew up in the Northamptonshire village of Helpston and made the surrounding countryside his world. His formal education, such as it was, ended when he was eleven years old, but this child of the 'unwearying eye' had a thirst for knowledge and became a model example of the self-taught man. As a poet of rural England he has few rivals.
From the moment his first publication - Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery - appeared, it was clear that England had a new and very original poet. Sadly, the public's enthusiasm did not last long and each new volume met with diminishing applause. Ill and in debt, he left Helpston for Northborough from where he was eventually removed to Northampton General Lunatic Asylum, where he died in 1864.
MODERNHELPSTON
Sue and I paid a visit to wonderful Helpston 22nd April 2007. As we walked into the churchyard, Peter Moyse of The John Clare Society was charming and helpfull and gave us a real insight into both the man, John Clare and his village.
The Village of Helpston.
Sue and Peter at Clares grave.
Clares Birthplace.
This poem written in a Northampton Lunatic Asylum, clearly shows that, madness depends on who, has who, locked in what cage ..
My main collection of John Clare's work ..
This is a 'MUST READ' Download ..
John Clare - Free Downloads - MP3
Have the poems read to you ..
