Accursed Wealth

Jeremy Corbyn quotes John Clare at Tolpuddle festival last weekend:

"Inclosure came and trampled on the grave

 Of labour's rights and left the poor a slave … 

 And birds and trees and flowers without a name 

All sighed when lawless law's enclosure came"

Clare is as relevant as ever... Here are the lines from his 1820 collection "Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery" that his publisher had expunged from the book in the Second and subsequent editions, MUCH to Clare's annoyance:

"Accursed wealth oer bounding human laws
Of every evil thou remains the cause
Victims of want those wretches such as me
Too truly lay their wretchedness to thee
Thou art the bar that keeps from being fed
& thine our loss of labour & of bread
Thou art the cause that levels every tree
& woods bow down to clear a way for thee "

In September I will be publishing the 5th book in the John Clare Chapbook series.  Entitled 'Accursed Wealth' it will explore Clare's writings on the subject of Wealth and Poverty.