On flapping wings like heavy sails
And oer the mead so lowly swings
She fans the herbage with her wings
The waterfowl with suthering wings
Dive down the river splash and spring
Up to the very clouds again
That sprinkle scuds of coming rain
That flye and drizzle all the day
Till dripping grass is turned to grey
The various clouds that move or lye
Like mighty travellers in the sky
All mountainously ridged or curled
That may have travelled round the world
The water ruckles into waves
And loud the neighbouring woodland raves
All telling of the coming storm
That fills the village with alarm
Ere yet the sun is two hours high
Winds find all quarters of the sky
With sudden shiftings all around
And now the grass upon the ground
And now the leaves they wirl and wirl
With many a flirting flap and curl
JOHN CLARE: A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL OUTLINE
_Works_
1
POEMS DESCRIPTIVE OF RURAL LIFE AND SCENERY. By John Clare, a
Northamptonshire Peasant. London: Printed for Taylor and Hessey. 1820.
12mo. Pp. xxxii, 222. The second and third editions, 1820; excisions
and alterations occur, but not in all copies. Fourth edition, 1821.
2
THE VILLAGE MINSTREL AND OTHER POEMS. Taylor and Hessey. 1821. Two
volumes 12mo. Pp. xxviii, 216; vi, 211. Second edition, 1823. The
two volumes were also, at a later date, bound in one cover lettered
"Poetic Souvenir."
3
THE SHEPHERD'S CALENDAR; WITH VILLAGE STORIES, AND OTHER POEMS.
Taylor. 1827. 12mo. Pp. viii, 238.
4
THE RURAL MUSE. London: Whittaker & Co. 1835. 12mo. Pp. x, 175.
_Biographies and Selections_
5
THE LIFE OF JOHN CLARE. By Frederick Martin, London and Cambridge:
Macmillan & Co. 1865. Fcp. 8vo. Pp. viii, 301.
6
LIFE AND REMAINS OF JOHN CLARE. By J. L. Cherry. London: Frederick
Warne & Co. Northampton: J. Taylor & Son. 1873. (Issued in the
_Chandos Classics_, 1873-1877.) Fcap. 8vo. Pp. xiii, 349.
7
POEMS BY JOHN CLARE, selected and introduced by Norman Gale. With a
Bibliography by C. Ernest Smith. Geo. E. Over, Rugby, 1901. Fcp. 8vo.
Pp. 206.
8
POEMS BY JOHN CLARE, edited with an Introduction by Arthur Symons.
Frowde, London, 1908. I2mo. Pp. 208.
9
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE BOTANOLOGIA. JOHN CLARE. By G. Claridge Druce.
Pamphlet: no printer's name. 1912. (It includes a memoir, and a
classification of the flowers described in Clare's poems.)
_Miscellaneous Clare Volumes_
10
FOUR LETTERS from the Rev. W. Allen, to the Right Honourable Lord
Radstock, G.C.B., on the Poems of John Clare, the Northamptonshire
Peasant. Hatchards' (1823). 12mo. Pp. 77.
11
THREE VERY INTERESTING LETTERS (two in curious rhyme) by the
celebrated poets Clare, Cowper, and Bird. With an Appendix (Clare's
"Familiar Epistle to a Friend"). ff.13. Charles Clarke's private
press, Great Totham, 1837. 8vo. Only 25 copies printed. THE JOHN CLARE
CENTENARY EXHIBITION CATALOGUE. Introduction by C. Dack. Peterborough
Natural History Society, 1893. Pamphlet. Pp. viii, 28. An edition of
50 copies was printed on large paper.
_Clare's Contributions to Periodicals_
A detailed list of Clare's work in the magazines is a lengthy affair.
His main connections were with the "London Magazine" (1821-1823),
"European Magazine" (1825, 1826), "Literary Magnet" (1826, 1827),
"Spirit and Manners of the Age" (1828, 1829), the publications of
William Hone, "Athenaeum" (1831), "Englishman's Magazine" (1831),
"Literary Receptacle" (1835). He contributed once or twice to the
"Sheffield Iris," "Morning Post," and the "Champion"; and much of his
best work seems to have been printed in local papers, such as the
"Stamford Bee." The annuals often included short poems by him: the
"Amulet," "Forget-Me-Not," "Friendship's Offering," "Gem," "Juvenile
Forget-Me-Not," "Literary Souvenir," etc.
Clare's magazine writings are not always signed, and in the annuals
his poems often bear no ascription except "By the Northamptonshire
Peasant." After 1837 he appears not to have contributed poems to
any journals other than local; though Cyrus Redding in the "English
Journal," 1841, gives many of his later verses.
_Incidental Reference Volumes_
ALLIBONE, S. A.--Dictionary of English Literature.
ASKHAM, JOHN--Sonnets on the Months ("To John Clare," p. 185)--1863.
BAKER, Miss A. E.--Glossary of Northamptonshire Words and Phrases
(Clare contributed)--1854.
CARY, H. F.--MEMOIR OF; ii. 52-53, 94-95--1847.
CHAMBERS, R.--Cyclopaedia of English Literature, ii. 386-390--1861.
DE QUINCZY, T.--London Reminiscences, pp. 143-145--1897.
DE WILDE, G.--Rambles Round About, and Poems: pp. 30-49--1872.
DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY.
DOBELL, B.--Sidelights on Charles Lamb--1903.
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA.
(GALIGNANI'S)--Living Poets of England: pp.172-174--1827.
HALL, S. C.--Book of Gems: pp. 162-166--1838.
--A Book of Memories: pp. 107-109.
HEATH, RICHARD--The English Peasant: pp. 292-319--1893.
HOLLAND, J.--James Montgomery: iv. 96, 175--1854.
HOOD, E. P.--The Peerage of Poverty--1870.
HOOD, THOMAS--Works, ii. 374-377--1882.
LAMB, CHARLES--LETTERS (Ed. W. Macdonald), ii. 22--1903.
LOMBROSO, CESARE--The Man of Genius, 162, 205--1891.
MEN OF THE TIME--_earlier issues_.
MILES, A. H.--Poets and Poetry of the Nineteenth Century. Vol. "Keats
to Lytton," pp. 79-106 (by Roden Noel)--1905.
MITFORD, M. R.--Recollections of a Literary Life. I. 147-163--1857.
REDDING, CYRUS--Fifty Years' Recollections: ii. 211--1858.
--Past Celebrities Whom I Have Known: ii. 132 _sq_.
STODDARD, R. H.--Under the Evening Lamp: pp.120-134--1893.
SYMONS, ARTHUR--The Romantic Movement in English Poetry: pp. 288-293--1908.
TAYLOR, JOHN--Bibliotheca Northantonesis--1869.
THOMAS, EDWARD--Feminine Influence on the Poets--1908.
--A Literary Pilgrim in England--1917.
WALKER, HUGH--The Literature of the Victorian Era: pp. 241-245--1913.
WILSON, JOHN--Recreations of Christopher North, i. 313-318--1842.
_Magazine Articles, &c._
1820 Analectic Magazine
June Antijacobin Review
April Eclectic Review
February Gentleman's Magazine
January, March London Magazine
July Monthly Magazine
March New Monthly
January, May New Times
February Northamptonshire County Magazine
May Quarterly Review
1821 October Ackermann's Repository
June British Critic
Eclectic Review
November European Magazine
Gentleman's Magazine
October Literary Chronicle
October Literary Gazette
November London Magazine
Monthly Review
1822 January Eclectic Review
1823 London Magazine
1827 June Ackermann's Repository
June Eclectic Review
John Bull
Literary Chronicle
March Literary Gazette
Morning Chronicle
1829 British Almanac and Companion
1831 November Blackwood's
1832 October The Alfred
Athenaeum
August True Sun
1835 July 25 Athenaeum
August Blackwood's
July 25 Literary Gazette
New Monthly
1840 June Athenaeum
June Times
1841 May English Journal
May Gentleman's Magazine
1852 August 28 Notes and Queries
1855 March 31 Illustrated London News
1857 November 21 London Journal
January Quarterly
1858 March 6 Notes and Queries
1860 Living Age (U.S.A.)
1863 October 31 Notes and Queries
Once a Week
1864 Annual Register
July Gentleman's Magazine
July St. James's Magazine
1865 June 17 Athenaeum
Chambers' Journal
August Eclectic Review
November 11 Leisure Hour
Spectator
1866 January Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine
1869 November Harper's New Monthly
1870 June 17 Literary World
1872 February 3 Notes and Queries
Overland (U.S.A.)
1873 April Athenaeum
Leisure Hour
January Literary World
Notes and Queries
Saturday Review, and many other
reviews of Cherry's volume
1874 October 17 Notes and Queries
1877 Living Age
1886 Northamptonshire Notes and Queries; 97.
1890 December 13 All the Year Round
September 6 Notes and Queries
1893 August, September Literary World
1901 July Current Literature (U.S.A.)
Freethinker
Monthly Review
1902 April Gentleman's Magazine
1908 December 17 Nation (New York)
1909 March Current Literature
T.P.'s Weekly
1913 January South Atlantic Quarterly
1914 October Yale Review
1915 May Fortnightly Review
1917 July 19 Dial (U.S.A.)
1919 September Cornhill Magazine
1920 February 22 Nation
March, April Athenaeum
May Oxford Outlook
July London Mercury
October Poetry Review
In addition to these references, valuable material is contained in
such local papers as the Northampton Herald, Northampton Mercury,
Stamford Mercury, Stamford Guardian, and the Peterborough Express,
and the Peterborough Standard; particularly under the important dates
1820, 1864, 1873, and 1893.