John Clare (13 July 1793 – 20 May 1864) was an English poet, the son of a farm labourer, who came to be known for his celebratory representations of the English countryside and his lamentation of its disruption. His poetry underwent a major re-evaluation in the late 20th century and he is often now considered to be among the most important 19th-century poets. His biographer Jonathan Bate states that Clare was "the greatest labouring-class poet that England has ever produced. No one has ever written more powerfully of nature, of a rural childhood, and of the alienated and unstable self".
Read more about John Clare: Poetry, Revival of Interest in The Twentieth Century, Poetry Collections By Clare (chronological), Works About Clare (chronological)
Famous quotes containing the words john and/or clare:
“Take heed of enemies reconciled, and of meat twice boiled.”
—Collected in John Ray, English Proverbs. English proverb (1670)
“Hesperus thy twinkling ray
Beams in the blue of heaven
And tells the traveller on his way
That earth shall be forgiven”
—John Clare (1793–1864)