A closely observed country scene teems with the vitality of early summerThe old pond full of flags and fenced around With trees and bushes trailing to the ground The water reeds are all around the brink And one clear place where cattle go to drink From year to year the schoolboy thither steals And muddys round the place to catch the eels The cowboy often hiding from the flies Lies there and plaits the rushcap as he lies The hissing owl sits moping all the day And hears his song and never flies away The pinks nest hangs upon the branch so thin The young ones caw and seem as tumbling in While round them thrums the purple dragon flye And great white butter flye goes dancing byeThe early acclaim won by the so-called “peasant-poet” John Clare (1793-1864), declined during his middle years, and he was almost penniless by 1823. With the support of friends, he and his family were able to leave his home village Helpston for a larger cottage in Northborough, Cambridgeshire, and this is where he was living when he wrote this week’s poem. Continue reading...