by Amy Fletcher

Created on: December 17, 2009

The Underrated Genius of John Clare

John Clare was an English poet that was born July 13, 1773.  He lived to the age of 91, and died on May 20th,1864.  He was born to a farmer.  He is considered to be one of the most important 19th century poets, depending on your opinion.

"Poems descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery" was his first published book of 1820. This book was concerned with the decline of fields, waste lands, and marshes.  It focused on the decline of the natural way of life that was in harmony with the cycles of the day, season and year.  In 1821 he wrote "The Village Minstrel". "The Shepherds Calendar of 1827, and "The Rural Muse" written in 1835 were more poetically developed than his initial writings.

Clare was a laborer, along with being a poet.  He had a wife and seven children to support.  He wasn't afraid of a hard days work and considered himself a "jack-of-all trades".  He was on the fence between high society and his simple life.  He even spent time in insane asylums.

It wasn't until the 1980's that his work was really discovered and appreciated.  There is even a website dedicated to the preservation of his work.  Some think that his work wasn't appreciated at the time it was written because the editors deleted the parts that they deemed inappropriate for the readers of the time.  They didn't want to ruffle any feathers with references to certain topics.  But I guess you can read his works and make your own judgment.

References: http://www.johnclare.org/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Clare, http://slate.msn.com/id/2089950/

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