This web page was a British Literature project given by Dr. Douglas Rowlett at Houston Community College Stafford Campus.

        John Clare in his religiously inspired poem praises god as the one and only creator, as well as the highest Almighty.  He adores his art, hymns and his capabilities of creating such a perfect universe and how the creator is the only one managing it.

        In the first stanza Clare refers to the creator as the ruler of worlds above and below the skies, of heaven and hell, of good and evil and of angels and devils.  Clare admits that we have been worshipping our Lord as since the creation of Adam.  Second, he addresses Him as the creator of light and darkness, sun and moon, and Eve who he created to reproduce mankind.  Clare portrays  Eve as "the first flower", a flower which produces mankind. Finally, Clare admits that eventhough God is  merciful and forgivivg evil will always lure mortals and it will be up to them to seek salvation and repent.  If they do repent the Lord most merciful will not disappoint them.

        In the second stanza Clare praises God as an amazing creator of our world, of mountains that bear gold and of barren and forbidden lands.  Here Clare focuses on God's choice to create beauty and deformity.  Deformity in the sense that things that do not exhibit charm or beauty seem ugly, barren to the human eye.  In God's eyes all which he has built serves a purpose and that purpose makes it beautiful.  Clare admits that he seeks the Lord's help and admits that he is a helpless creation who depends on his creator grace and guidance.  Clare realizes in this stanza that we need the Creator step by step to guide us from the day we are born till the day we die.

        The third stanza expresses Clare's fear, or shall we say our fear because Clare is representing mankind as at the mercy of our Lord.  In this stanza Clare portrays the Lord as a supreme judge.  Clare pleas that we need God's help and fear for it because if he does not listen then there is no otrher authority who will.  He shows God as supperior, and the key to our salvation.  As beings we are helpless and only God can help us.  The Lord's guidance provides us strengthand allows us to keep our faith.  What Clares main point in this stanza is that man did not create himself.  The lord is trhe maker of all men and that being true he is the father of all men.  He is the father and it is up to Him to give mercy to your children, and judge them for their actions by rewarding them with heaven and hell.

        Stanza number four expresses the strength of faith that the poet claims we possess.  Clare makes the point that God is the beginning and the end.  He starts life and He holds the ultimate power to end it all.  He is our father, He created us, we start from Him and when the end approaches and there is nobody we can turn to He is there to guide us through our misery through our journey from this world to the world above.  Clare writes, in "Hymn to the Creator", That the world loves Him, cherishes Him, and start and finish the day with the Lord's name.  Clare also compares the time of day with the seasons of one's life.  From youth to old age, Through happiness and misery, through the ills and sadness our faith in God torches up in the darkness of hoplessness and lightens up the passsage of hope through His grace.

        In Clare's  poem "Hymn to the Creator" Clare encourages the faith of his readers and explains that there is a big reward in seeking the almighty's grace.  It indulges you in solitude and salvation that you can not find anywhere else.  When it is time to leave this sinful world those who find eternal peace and guidance will find it through the lord.  The rest will be punished for not believing, or ignoring, or depending on things other than His grace and His teachings.

       The time line is chronological record of the life of John Clare.  This time line shows the important events that happend to Clare.
 

1793    July 13.  John, first child and only son of Parker and Anne Clare, born at   Helpston,              Northamptonshire.
1806    Bought his first books, Dr. Watts's Hymns and Spiritual  Songs and James Thomson's Seasons
1809    Act of Enclosure passed for the area inccluding Helpston.  Worked fo Francis Gregory at The Blue Bell Inn, the "nursery for that lonely and solitary musing which ended in rhyme."
1814    Bought his first notebook and began recording his poems in it.
1819    Met John Taylor, his eventual publisher.
1820    Jan, 16.  Poems Descriptive of Rural Life amd Scenery published by Taylor and Hessey, and E. Drury.  It was an instant success, going through four editions that year.  March.  First visit to London where he met several leading literary and artistic figures of the day.  March 16.  Married Martha (Patty) Turner.
1821    Joined the group of regular contributors to Taylor's recently purchased London Magazine.  September.  The Village Minstrel, and Other Poems published in two volumes by Taylor and Hessey, and E. Drury.
1822    May-June.  Second visit to London where he met Hazlitt, Lamb, Hood, and J.H. Renyolds
1824    May.  Third visit to London, this time to see Dr.  Darling for treatment.  Met DeQuincey, Coleridge, and George Darley.  July 14.  Viewed Byron's funeral cortege as it crossed London.
1825    Nov.  His essay on "Popularity in Authorship" published in European Magazine.
1827    The Shepard's Calendar:  With Village Stories, and Other Poems published by James Duncan for John Taylor
1828    Feb.  Fourth visit to London, again for treatment by Dr.  Darling
1830    July.  Publicly cursed Shylock in a Peterborough performance of The Merchant of Venice.  This incident was followed by a period of severe ilness.
1832    May.  Moved from Helpston to a new cottage at Northborough
1835    The Rural Muse published by Whittaker and Company.
1837    Committed to Dr. Matthew Allen's asylum at High Beech, Essex.
1841    July.  Escaped from High Beech and walked eighty miles home in four days.  Remained at home until Dec. 29 when he was taken to Northampton General Lunatic Assylum.
1844    In the same town, but unknown to each other, Clare and Wordsworth watched the Royal Progress of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert through Northampton.
1845    W.F. Knight began collecting and transcribing the poems Clare wrote at Northampton.
1864    May 20.  Clare died peacefully at the Northampton asylum.

        John Clare was born Helpston, Northamptonshire on July 13, 1793. He was the first child of Parker and Ann Clare. His twin sister Elizabeth died shortly after birth, but he had another sister named Sophia who was born in 1798. John Clare was not born into an affluent family. His father was an agricultural day laborer and their income came mainly casual labor and the sale of apples from a tree in their backyard. Clare's parents were very instrumental in his literary development. His mother encouraged his desire to be a scholar and his father was the one who introduced him to songs and ballads. However, Clare's poetic flare cannot be confined to his exposure to literature. The genius in him could have been contributed by his grandfather, John Donald Parker. Parker was a Scottish schoolmaster who settled in Helpston for a while and fell in love with a young woman named Alice Clare. When Parker discovered that Alice had become pregnant with his child, he fled from Helpston and never returned. Alice had Parker's son, whom she named Parker Clare. Parker Clare married Ann Stimson in December of 1792 and their union led to the arrival of John Clare into the world.
        The fact that Clare was born into a poor family did not prevent him from having a happy childhood. He spent his childhood at the Helpston Cottage where he lived with his parents. He tended sheep and cows or hunted for birds and fish during his childhood. He later wrote that those activities were a source of great pleasure to him. From the age of seven Clare began to attend day school at a neighboring village called Glinton. However, he had to quit day school at the age of twelve, and look for employment. He continued to go to Gliton night school and work during the day for some time, after which he continued educating himself unconventionally - with his peers.
        Clare met his first flame, Mary Joyce, at the Gilton school. Mary was an important figure in Clare's life because she was the source of his poetic inspiration thought his life. At the age of twelve, Clare had to quit day school and seek permanent employment due to his parents' illness and increased financial dependence on him. Clare's association with Mary also declined after he left school. He tried to see her occasionally at the town market or waited outside her house but Mary's parents did not approve of her friendship with a peasant boy and eventually, Clare and Mary drifted apart. Finding employment was not an easy task for Clare. Clare did not want to leave Helpston due to his attachment to the familiar town and his family. He was too intelligent and educated to fit into the labor class and work manually in the field. He did not have the poise required to hold a job in the City. His timidity and unsophisticated dressing led to many rejections by prospective employers. Therefore, this child of a peasant was torn between two classes. Clare's first employment came along when his neighbor Francis Gregory offered him a job at the Blue Bell Inn. This job suited Clare just fine as he did not have to leave home and the job gave him plenty of free time to read and compose poetry. Clare secretly desired to earn a living through his compositions, but lacked the courage to have them read by publishers in order to have them printed. He began composing poetry after reading James Thomson's Seasons. Initially, he had borrowed the book from one of the local boys and brought a copy for himself eventually. Clare's poetry flourished and his collection of poems grew during the time he worked for Gregory. Clare look for criticism of his work from his parents, by reading aloud to them. He saved the poems that won his parent's approval and destroyed the rest.
        As Clare stepped into early manhood, his interests also grew. He still valued the solace he found in nature, but  his fondness for study began to decline.He started growing out of his shyness and began to spend more time socializing with fellow laborers. The Bachelor's Hall, a place owned by the Billings, was where Clare began to spend most of his free time. It was during this time that Clare made his first attempt at having his poems published, but was unsuccessful. After loosing contact with Mary Joyce, Clare was attracted to many other women, but only two of these attractions materialized into serious relationships. The first woman Clare courted was Elizabeth Newborn. The relationship never progressed further than a long courtship. The other woman was Martha Patty Turner, with whom Clare eventually tied the knot after discovering that she had conceived his child. In 1819, Clare's prospects seemed bleak. Clare was employed in lime burning at that time, which was as close to permanent employment as he would ever get. His parents had taken ill and they were two years behind on house rent. Clare's collection of poems was still undisclosed, and he was uncertain about his occupation and his feelings for Patty.
        Things began to look up for Clare by the end of 1819. He owed some money to a gentleman named Edward Drury, who owned the Stanford bookstore. Clare was unable to pay him at the time and proposed that Drury help him publish his poems and generate revenue from the book sales, by means of which he would be able to pay the debt. The idea appealed to Drury and he asked his cousin, who was a publisher by the name of John Taylor, to consider publishing Clare's poems. Hence, Clare's first collection of poems titled Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery was published on January 16, 1820. Clare and Patty married on March 16, 1820. Clare's affections for Patty grew as their marriage progressed. She proved to be a wonderful wife and mother as revealed in a letter that Clare wrote to on of his editors saying, ÒPatty & myself now begin to know each other & live happily & I deem it a fortunate era in my life that I met with her.Ó Clare and Patty had seven children by 1832. Clare wrote several poems to Patty, but his inspiration was rooted in his affection for Mary Joyce. Since Clare could never have a real relationship with Mary, he had an intense one with her in his imagination and realized it through his poetry. His obsession with Mary is reflected in a letter he wrote to Dr., Allen, in which he refers to Mary as his poetical fancy and to Patty as Òone of his fancies. Clare's fame grew after his first book was published. He made new acquaintances, and earned many benefactors who introduced him to London's society and helped him later in life. However, not all of his new acquaintances were looked upon favorably by him. Some were inevitably condescending, patronizing or simply rude, and all of whom disrupted the quiet home life that he valued.
        The years following 1820 to 1828 were amongst the best times in Clare's life. He made four trips to London in these years and met literary people whose company he enjoyed immensely. Suddenly, the awkward peasant boy from Helpston, who no one in the city wanted to hire, was now mingling in London's elite society without any trouble! During these years two more of his books were published. The Village Minstrel and Other Poems was published in 1821 and The Shepherd's Calendar was published in 1827. Even though Clare's health problems started to intensify much later, the first glimpse of his illness was evident while he was composing The Shepherd's Calendar . His illness and disillusions during that time had prolonged the publication of The Shepherd's Calendar considerably. Clare's main source of income was from the sales of his books and the interest from investments made on his behalf by his benefactors. Clare realized that this income would not suffice his growing family and hence, he began to search for a small piece of land which he could cultivate in order to meet his financial needs.
        In 1832 Clare moved with his family to Northborough, three miles from Helpston, where he rented a cottage along with a few acres of land on the Fitzwilliam Estate. Leaving Helpston took a toll on the poet, stirring up the turmoil he was facing in his inner life and the treatment of Nature in his poetry. Clare had a temporary boost of morale in 1835 with the publication of The Rural Muse. Unfortunately, even though he got favorable critical reviews, the book did not sell as expected. This was the last volume of verses that appeared in Clare's life. Clare's disillusions grew from this time on. He had suffered from epileptiforum fits since childhood, but his illness grew in later years from severe stomach pains to mental disorders. In 1836 Taylor brought a physician named Dr. Matthew Allen to visit and examine Clare. Upon the recommendation of Dr. Allen, Clare was admitted to an Asylum for the first time at High Beach. He enjoyed the serenity at High Beach, and was allowed to walk the asylum grounds while writing verses. Don Juan was composed at this time. Even though Clare was not absolutely confined at the asylum, he could not endure being separated from his family, and uprooted from the familiar surroundings of his home. Moreover, he was most outraged by the idea having to live with people who were obviously mad. Therefore, on July 20th, 1841, Clare escaped from the asylum. He walked out of the asylum grounds and continued to walk on for four days, with nothing more to eat than a plug of chewing tobacco and the grass he found along the way, until he reached home. Clare was allowed to stay home for the next five months under his wife's care, but as his health detoriated, he was made to leave home and admitted at the Northampton General Lunatic asylum on December 29, 1841. At the Northampton asylum, Clare was able to enjoy the same freedom that he did at High Beach, and more. He was allowed to go into town where he usually spent considerable amount of time sitting under the portico of All Saints Church and composing verses. He even socialized a bit with pedestrians and wrote verses for them on scraps of paper. Clare's mental state grew worst from 1845 to 1850.
        Even though he never went completely insane, by 1854 he was impacted enough to be confined to the asylum grounds. All his family, except his wife, visited him at the asylum from time to time during the last ten years of his life. Clare's slow mental detoriation is reflected in the letters he wrote to his wife and children from the asylum. On May 10, 1964 Clare suffered a paralytic seizure and died at the Asylum, ten days later, on May 20, 1864. His desire to die at home was not realized, however, the poet passed by peacefully and was buried at the Helpston Church yard.

Work Cited:

    Howard, William.  John Clare.
    Boston: Twayne, 1981.

Storey, Edward. A Right To Song: The Life Of John Claire.
    London: Methuen Ltd.,1982.

 
Annonymous.  "Rev of The Shepard's Calendar, by John Clare".
    London Literary Gazette:  Journal of Belles Letters,
    Arts, Sciences, no. 532 (1827), 195.

            A descriptive esaay wher the poetry is called "sweet poetry," and has passages from "Wanderings in June" and "To the Cowslip". It is followed by a brief cocnclusion statement that states that the "narrative parts" of the volume are the least appealing.

Wilson, John. "An Hour's Talk About Poetry."
    Blackwood's Edinburugh Magazine,30 (1831),483-88

        This is an article which comments on the type of person that Clare is. He is placed in the Company of Burns, Hogg, Cunningham, and Bloomfield. Theese men nevertheless emerge "more clearly and certainly men of genius, then many who, under different circumstances, may have effected far higher achievement." Clare shows that even during his time he was appreciated as a genius of poetry along with the great poets of and before his generation.

Martin, Frederick. The Life of John Clare.
    London and Cambridge: Mcmillan, 1865. 301pp.

        This is the first biography of John Clare and shows the true life that he lived. Martin uses Clare's autobiographical notes, his letters, manuscripts, to trace Clare's life from athat of a happy boy to an "Patriarch" of the NorthamptonGeneral Lunatic Asylum, whre Clare spent the last twenty-two years of his life.

Redding, Cyrus. "John Clare the Poet." Rev. of
    The Life of John Clare, by Frederick Martin.
    New Monthly Magazine, 134 (1865), 439-444

        In this article it is clear that John Clare is portrayed as a man who believes that poets are made by birth. He shows this when the article comments "He was a poet almost as soon as He was conscious of his being." This article shows him in a less favortable light as opposed to all the wonderful articles that praised his brillance.

Annonymous.  "John Clare, Northamptonshire Peasant Poet."
    Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine, 2 (1867), 39-43.

        This article shows the love which John Clare had for his love and ckhildhood sweetheart Mary Joyce.  It was this love which " gave life to his poetry from first to last."Although Mary Joyce did not have the same intense fellings that John Clare exhibitted.  It also is very important to support a country's artists which would have enabled John Clare to write my more works.

Mayer, G.M Townsend.  "John Clare."
    Times LibrarySupplement,
    30 June 1921, p.421.

        This is a printed letter from G.J. DeWilde to J.W. Dalby detailing De Wilde's observation of Clare during the assylum period.  Clare was frequently quoting lines from Byron and Shakespeare and claiming them as his own.  Clare also identified himself as many different great warriors , boxers as well as emminite "blackguards."  It also mention his love for tobacco and beer and his respect for and awe of Dr. Pritchard, the Superintendent of the Northampton Asylum.

Moult, Thomas.  "The Poetry  of the Green Man."
    English Review, 32 (1921), 186-90.

        This review tries to show that Clare's later work was of a higher order than his early work.  It also comments on why he was such a sensation in London and believes that it had something to do with the long green coat which he wore, as well as his peasent clothes.  Clare looks at "anomalies" asopposed to Keats or Wordsworth who questioned the universe.  Clare's poetry, as it progressed,is poetry became more intellectual and if critics would have reviewed his later work's they would have not looked upon him as a peasent and looked at him as a poet.

Squire, J.C.  Rev. of John Clare:  Poems Chiefly from Manuscript,
    ed.  Edmund Blunden and Alan Porter.  London Mercury, 3 (1921), 336.

        Clare was shown as a "neglected poet"  but it also shows how Clare was more then a poet for the peasants.  It also suggest that an editor should put together all of Clare's poems worth printing, as well as a life story to accompany it and put his poetry into perspective.

Stanford, Derek.  Rev.  of  Poems of John Clare's Madness,
  ed.  Geofferey Grigson.  Life and Letters and the London
    Mercury, 64  (1950), 236, 238.

    The poetry of Clare combines " the exact patoral image with a lyrical impulse by no means earth bound."  The 1844 period of poetic sanity, a final "sanctuary," for an author whao was beginning to lose his sanity.

Vines, Sherard.  100 Years of English Literature.
  London: Gerald Duckworth and Co.,Ltd., 1950,
    pp.  12, 20, 177

        Clare loved nature and showed through  his poetry.  Even in his maddnesshe treated nature with respect and love.  He always took great care to vividly describe "country matters" with the same vivdness as he did in his early works.

Annon.  " A life of Clare." Rev. of Green Shadows,
    by June Wilson.  Times Literary Supplement.
    13, April 1951, p 232

        This review mentions some previous biographies and notes that Wilson's study " leaves us with clear realization that the time is ripe for a full understanding, not only of Clare himself but also the type of poetry which he wrote.  Also Wilson staes that people should not only enjoy his work but notice the progression of his work, as well as, his progression of style.

Annon.  Rev. of Selected Poems of John Clare, ed.
    Geoffrey Grigsom.  Listener, 45 (1951), 272

        Clare chose to remain a child so that he could stay in touch with the type of poetry that he wrote.  His work is relatively simple which makes it very difficult to critque.

Breit, Harvey.  "Repeat Performance."  Rev. of
    Selected Pems of John Clare, ed.  J.W. Tibble and Anne Tibble.
    New York Times Book Review, April 1951, p 32.

        This review of Clare's work again portrays him in a positive light.  The author comments that Clare was a "poet with limited gifts" but he still showed greatness through simplicity.  Eventhough his poems as a whole are not some of the greatest works he still had lines that could be considered great lines.

Nerman, Sylvia.  "Clare: Letters and Life."  Rev.  of
    The Letters of John Clare, ed.  J.W.  Tibble and
    Anne Tibble.  Spectator, 186 (1951),790

        Clare's correspondence, compared to that of other literary figures is unfortunately not very complete.  Although he does not have nearly the amount of correspondence that other author's did, but the few letters provided insight into his relationship with his publisher, John Taylor, who may have influenced Clare's poetry more then ppeople think.

O' Brien, E.D.  " The Northampton Peasent Poet."
    Illustrated London News, 218 (1951), 936.

        This article is a short biography on John Clare.  This article also a critcism of Clare and his work.  The information about Clare during his years in the Asylum not only is interesting but gives you great insight on what kind of man he truly was.

Wilson, June.  Green Shadows : The Life of John Clare.
    London:  Hodder and Stoughton, 1951.  271pp.

        This biography is one that is very kind to Clare.  This book treats like a person who was an artist instead of just another crazy artist.  Wilson uses many of Clare's autobiographical notes to show how he felt about many things especially the relationship between Clare and his editor John Taylor.

Annon.  "Poems of John Clare."  Times Literary
Supplement, 14 May 1954 , p. 311

        This collection of poems show some of the mistakes that Clare makes in his writings.  Thees poems are uneven , as well as choppy and incoherent at times.  His poems are not based on observation or vision but such a mixture of the two it blurs into ainsanity.

Graves, Robert.  "Books in General."  New
    Statesman and Nation, 48 (1954), 17-18

        This article shows the poverty that Clare endured.  The author partially blames this extreme poverty for his dellusions and insanity.  He does not only blame the poverty but also blames the isolation he felt whether justified or not.

Martin, F.The Secret People:  English Village Life
    after 1750.  London:  Phoenix House, 1954 pp.  89,
    149, 155, 307.

        The article states how Clare was a spokesman for the villagers in his town.  The author also states that his fellow villagers w incapable of understanding him.  The author also portrays Clare as a genius through insanity.

Reeves, James. "Introduction."  In Selected Poems of John Clare.
    Ed.  James Reeves.  New York;  Macmillan,
    1954, pp.  xi-xxix.

         This a very detailed essay.  It is broken down in five parts.  First contains Clare's poetic strengths and weaknesses.  The second describe the kind of poet Clare was.  The third is a criticsm of Clare's "Summer Moods."  In the fourth section, Reeves comments on Clare's life and focusses specifically on his illness.  Finally, Reeves cocncludes  by commenting that Clare's downfall was "probable if not inevitable".

Tomilson, Charles.  "The Peasent Poet." Spectator,
    193 (1954), 267.

        This article comments on the plain old-fshioned country happiness and love of nature that Clare draws for his readers.  Although he is not the only peaset he is the most nature driven.  Other peasent poets discussed in the article are all influenced by Milton and Pope's couplets.

Brown, T.J. "English Literary autographs XIV:  John
    Clare, 1793-1864."  Book Collector, 4 (summer
    1955), 147,

        Tarticle has three handwritten samples of John Clare's handwritting.  They are all personal notes from Clare to Taylor,his publisher.  One is from 1824, the second from 1841, and the third from 1850.  If you look carefully you can see that his handwritting becomes more erratic the  closer he gets to the end of his life.  This , of course,  is brought on by the epileptic seizures and delusions that Clare has during his time before and during his time at the asylum.

Graves, Robert.  The Crowning Privilege;  The Clark Lectures 1954-55;
    Various Essays on Poetry and Sixteen New Poems.  London:
    Casel and Co., 1955, pp. 46-51

        Clare's poetry shows  the way he grew inspiteof the people.  This proves the point that Clare was always a man w poetry.  Eventhough Clare was aman of the people his growth in poetry shows he was not a prisoner but a true poet.
 

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 Clare Poems Again
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 My Favorite Clare Work
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