The Editor begs the reader to believe that he under took the
compilation of this volume with diffidence and trepidation, lest by
any defect of judgment he might do aught to diminish the reputation
which John Clare has always enjoyed with the lovers of pastoral
poetry. He trusts that the shortcomings of an unskilful workman will
be forgotten in admiration of the gems for which he has been required
to find a setting.
Shortly after Clare's death his literary "Remains" came into the
possession of Mr. Taylor, of Northampton. The MSS included several
hundreds of hitherto unpublished poems, more than a thousand letters
addressed to Clare by his friends and contemporaries, (among them
Charles Lamb, James Montgomery, Bloomfield, Sir Chas. A. Elton, Hood,
Cary, Allan Cunningham, Mrs. Emmerson, Lord Radstock, &c), diary,
pocket books in which Clare had jotted down passing thoughts and
fancies in prose and verse, a small collection of curious "Old
Ballads" which he says he wrote down on hearing them sung by his
father and mother, and numerous other valuable and interesting
documents.
This volume has been compiled mainly from these manuscripts. The
contents are divided into five sections, namely:--Life and Letters,
Asylum Poems, Miscellaneous Poems, Prose Fragments, Old Ballads.
For much of the information relating to the Poet's earlier years the
Editor is indebted to Mr. Martin's "Life of Clare," and the
narratives of his youthful struggles and sufferings which appeared in
the "Quarterly Review" and other periodicals at the time of the
publication of his first volume. From that time the correspondence
already mentioned became the basis of the biographical sketch, and
was of the greatest value. In the few pages which relate to Clare's
residence at Northampton, the Editor was enabled to write principally
from personal knowledge.
It is almost incumbent upon him to add, that in several important
particulars he dissents from Mr. Martin, but he will not engage in
the ungracious task of criticizing a work to which he is under an
obligation.
While an inmate of the Northampton County Lunatic Asylum, Clare wrote
more than five hundred poems. These were carefully preserved by Mr.
W. F. Knight, of Birmingham, a gentleman who for many years held a
responsible office in that institution, and was a kind-hearted friend
of the unhappy bard. From this pile of manuscripts the Editor has
selected those which appear under the title of Asylum Poems. The
selection was a pleasing, mournful task. Again and again it happened
that a poem would open with a bright, musical stanza giving promise
of a finished work not unworthy of Clare's genius at its best. This
would be followed by others in which, to quote a line from the
"Village Minstrel," were "Half-vacant thoughts and rhymes of careless
form." Then came deeper obscurity, and at last incoherent nonsense.
Of those which are printed, scarcely one was found in a state in
which it could be submitted to the public without more or less of
revision and correction.
The Miscellaneous Poems are chiefly fugitive pieces collected from
magazines and annuals. One or two, referred to in the correspondence
with James Montgomery, have been reprinted from the "Rural Muse," and
there are a few which, like the Asylum Poems, have not been published
before. "Maying; or, Love and Flowers," to which the Editor presumes
specially to direct attention, is one of these.
The Prose Fragments are of minor literary importance, but they help
to a knowledge and an understanding of the man. The Old Ballads have
an interest of their own, apart from their association with Clare.
The majority are no doubt what they purport to be, but in two or
three instances Clare's hand is discernible.