The early poems of John Clare 1804-1822: General editor Eric Robinson: Edited by Eric Robinson and David Powell: Associate editor Margaret Grainger |
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EPITAPH ON MR C---LE WHO AFTER EXPERIENCING MISFORTUNES URG'D AT LAST BY DESPAIR PUT A PERIOD TO HIS EXISTENCE— |
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 | The early poems of John Clare |  |
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EPITAPH ON MR C---LE WHO AFTER EXPERIENCING MISFORTUNES URG'D AT LAST BY DESPAIR PUT A PERIOD TO HIS EXISTENCE—
When honest worth born down beneath the weightOf sad misfortunes yieldeth to his fate
Pity low bending where the sufferer sleeps
Recalls the past & reccolection weeps
—Beneath this humble stone (all fate would give
To better luck may every reader live)
Misfortune hides—& sorrow finds repose
The last resource adversity bestows
And while oblivion draws the vail between
& hides the present with the future scene
Let not ill judging jealousy distrust
Nor seek the fault forgotten in the dust
—But hold—ye hasty fears—ye jealous thoughts
The man's the man in spite of all the faults
The clouds of fate that blacken & oer cast
But vainly shade the present with the past
The former lustre merits sun displayd
Disperses clouds & lightens up the shade
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& those where his no man like him could shun
His dealings just his principals was good
He always strove (as far as ere he cou'd)
To keep an even ballance man with man
& tho he failed in this golden plan
Still slander may reproach—but cannot blame
(Here black designing malice lost her aim)
His puntual payments far as he was worth
Secur'd his honest fame while here on Earth
& the undoubted character he bore
Endears the memory now the mans no more
Such libral actions mark'd his honourd name
In life beloved & in death the same
Ye who succeed him do but act as well
Ye then may flourish where another fell
How vain the wreck to strive against the stream
Expierience prov'd it just the same with him
The more involv'd & vain the more he try'd
—Urg'd by despair—he prov'd it so—& dy'd
& contradict it malice if you can
Whats rarely found—he dy'd an honest man!
| The early poems of John Clare | |