Джон Клэр — английский поэт, сын батрака. Воспевал традиционную английскую деревню и оплакивал её исчезновение. В конце 20 в. отношение к его поэзии изменилось, и сегодня он считается одним из крупнейших английских поэтов 19 в. Его биограф Джонатан Бейт считает, что Клэр был «крупнейшим поэтом рабочего класса в истории Англии. Никто не писал более сильных стихов о природе, о детстве, проведённом в деревне, и об отчуждённости, зыбкости своего "я"». Wikipedia
“The riddle nature could not prove
Was nothing else but secret love.”
"Secret Love"
Poems Chiefly from Manuscript
Контексте: I hid my love in field and town
Till een the breeze would knock me down,
The bees seemed singing ballads oer,
The fly's bass turned a lion's roar;
And even silence found a tongue,
To haunt me all the summer long;
The riddle nature could not prove
Was nothing else but secret love.
“I found the poems in the fields,
And only wrote them down.”
Источник: The Later Poems, 1837-1864: Volumes I and II
“O words are poor receipts for what time hath stole away”
Источник: Poems Chiefly from Manuscript
“Throw not my words away, as many do;
They're gold in value, though they're cheap to you.”
"The Cross Roads; or, The Haymaker's Story"
Poems Chiefly from Manuscript
“And what is Life? — An hour-glass on the run”
"What is Life?"
Poems Chiefly from Manuscript
I am
Poems Chiefly from Manuscript
Emmonsail's Heath in Winter
Poems Chiefly from Manuscript
"Secret Love"
Poems Chiefly from Manuscript
“And don't despise your betters cause they're old.”
"The Cross Roads; or, The Haymaker's Story"
Poems Chiefly from Manuscript
“Fashion is her (Popularity) favourite disciple.”
Popularity of Authorship (1824)
“In politics and politicians' lies
The modern farmer waxes wondrous wise;”
"The Parish: A Satire"
Poems Chiefly from Manuscript
“When trouble haunts me, need I sigh?
No, rather smile away despair;”
"The Stranger"
Poems Chiefly from Manuscript
The Shepherd's Calendar: "July" (second version) http://www.photoaspects.com/chesil/clare/july2.html <br class="br">Poems Chiefly from Manuscript
An hour-glass on the run,
"What is Life?"
Poems Chiefly from Manuscript
