Clare, John

Clare, John
(1793-1864)
   Born into a poor farming family near Peterborough, Northamptonshire, Clare went to work at the age of seven. The son of a ballad singer, he wrote his first poems on his mother's sugar bags. Clare wrote about everything in the countryside: birds, animals, flowers, people, the months and seasons. By the mid-nineteenth century, the fashion for rural poetry waned, so did Clare's popularity. In 1837 he was committed to an asylum in Essex. He escaped in July 1841 and walked the 80 miles home, eating grass by the roadside. At the end of 1841 he was certified insane and spent the rest of his life at St. Andrew's Asylum, Northampton, writing some of his best poetry. A limestone and slate tablet commemorates him in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey. His main publications: Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery, 1820. The Village Minstrel, 1821. The Shepherd's Calendar: With Village Stories, and Other Poems, 1827. The Rural Muse, 1835. Some of his other poems: "Autumn," "Badger," "Early Nightingale," "Little Trotty Wagtail," "Secret Love," "The Beanfield," "The Firetail's Nest."
   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition, 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Saturday's Children: Poems of Work. Helen Plotz, ed. Greenwillow Books, 1982. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Book of Nineteenth-Century English Verse. John Hayward, ed. Oxford University Press, 1964; reprinted, with corrections, 1965. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. Westminster Abbey Official Guide (no date).

British and Irish poets. A biographical dictionary. . 2015.

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  • Clare, John — born July 13, 1793, Helpston, near Peterborough, Northamptonshire, Eng. died May 20, 1864, Northampton, Northamptonshire British poet. Clare grew up in extreme rural poverty, with little access to books, but he had a prodigious memory and… …   Universalium

  • Clare, John — (1793 1864)    Born in Helpston, Northamptonshire, the son of a farm labourer, he lived virtually all his life in his home county, although the last 20 years were spent in mental asylums. By dint of his own effort he became a well known poet,… …   A Dictionary of English folklore

  • Clare, John — (13 jul. 1793, Helpston, cerca de Peterborough, Northamptonshire, Inglaterra–20 may. 1864, Northampton, Northamptonshire). Poeta británico. Clare creció en la extrema pobreza de una zona rural con poco acceso a los libros. Sin embargo, poseía una …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Clare, John Fitzgibbon, 1st earl of — ▪ Irish politician born 1749, near Dublin died Jan. 28, 1802, Dublin       lord chancellor of Ireland who was a powerful supporter of a repressive policy toward Irish Catholics and, from 1793, a strong advocate of union with Great Britain. He was …   Universalium

  • CLARE, JOHN —    the peasant poet of Northamptonshire, born near Peterborough; wrote Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery, which attracted attention, and even admiration, and at length with others brought him a small annuity, which he wasted in… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Clare, John — (1793 1864)    Poet, s. of a cripple pauper, was b. at Helpstone near Peterborough. His youth is the record of a noble struggle against adverse circumstances. With great difficulty he managed to save one pound, with which he was able to have a… …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

  • John Clare — Born 13 July 1793 (1793 07 13) Helpston, Soke of Peterborough, Northamptonshire, England Died …   Wikipedia

  • CLARE (J.) — CLARE JOHN (1793 1864) Ce sont ses origines paysannes qui déterminent très tôt la vocation de celui qu’on surnommera «le poète paysan du Northamptonshire». Fils de paysans misérables et presque analphabètes, John Clare passe son enfance dans les… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • John Clare — [John Clare] (1793–1864) an English poet who wrote poems about the English countryside, including Shepherd’s Calendar (1827). He was a farm worker for much of his life but he became mentally ill and spent the last part of his life in an… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Clare — a ↑county in the west of the Republic of Ireland, famous for its mountains and lakes and its wild land on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean Clare 2 Clare, John (1793 1864) a British poet, who wrote mostly about the English countryside and country… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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