From "The Autumn Robin"

















Sweet little bird in russet coat
The livery of the closing year
I love thy lonely plaintive note
& tiney whispering song to hear
While on the stile or garden seat
I sit to watch the falling leaves
The songs thy little joys repeat
My lonliness relieves
& many are the lonely minds
That hear & welcome thee anew
Not taste alone but humble hinds
Delight to praise & love thee too
The veriest clown biside his cart
Turns from his song with many a smile
To see thee from the hedgerow start
To sing upon the stile


(lines 1-16)

Poems by John Clare, ed. Norman Gale
(Rugby: George E. Over, 1901)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for such a beautiful web site. I've just spent two lovely days in helpston and the poems could have been written yesterday.
I've taken many photos, helpston, glinton, castor hanglands, southey wood.
If you would like some copies to consider for use alongside some of the poems on here please let me know.
regards
mike

Arborfield said...

Yes please Mike... have you a website for me to download?

Regards...

Anonymous said...

Will try and put some here for you

www.myspace.com/mikehobsoncom

not sure what the quality will be like because i think they get compressed. otherwise i could put them onto a cd and post wherever you would like them. will be taking many more over the following months.
thanks for a great site
mike

Lionel Little said...

Too much of the rural scenes Clare wrote about are 'vanished', with just a tiny few, like the robin, that live on, and whether it's the robin's autumn notes or any other bird that sings, I look at them and imagine that once the eyes of Clare saw and heard just the same.