A neglected but excellent poet
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John Clare's poetry is beautiful. The stresses of life in the country - a laborious existence for the average worker made worse by the avarice of the upper classes and pernicious systems such as field enclosure - are evident in his poetry. But his love for and awe of nature are also clear, illuminating the harsh realities and providing a picture of natural life which is not less beautiful for being real. Clare's work should be more widely read, especially in an age in which even English literature teaching has begun to recognise the validity and worth of non-standard forms of language. His view of country life as well as his idiosyncratic use of language make his work invaluable to be read alongside other writers, such as the Romantic poets Wordworth and Keats. Primarily, however, Clare needs to be enjoyed in his own right.
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