The later poems of John Clare 1837-1864 ... General editor Eric Robinson: Edited by Eric Robinson and David Powell: Associate editor Margaret Grainger |
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 | The later poems of John Clare |  |
THE FRIGHTENED PLOUGHMAN
I WENT in the fields with the leisure I got,
The stranger might smile, but I heeded him not;
The hovel was ready to screen from a shower,
And the book in my pocket was read in an hour.
The stranger might smile, but I heeded him not;
The hovel was ready to screen from a shower,
And the book in my pocket was read in an hour.
The bird came for shelter, but soon flew away;
The horse came to look, and seemed happy to stay;
He stood up in quiet, and hung down his head,
And seemed to be hearing the poem I read.
The horse came to look, and seemed happy to stay;
He stood up in quiet, and hung down his head,
And seemed to be hearing the poem I read.
The ploughman would turn from his plough in the day,
And wonder what being had come in his way,
To lie on a molehill, and read the day long,
And laugh out aloud when he finished his song.
And wonder what being had come in his way,
To lie on a molehill, and read the day long,
And laugh out aloud when he finished his song.
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The peewit turned over and stooped o'er my head,
Where the raven croaked loud, like the ploughman ill-bred,
But the lark high above charmed me all the day long,
So I sat down and joined in the chorus of song.
Where the raven croaked loud, like the ploughman ill-bred,
But the lark high above charmed me all the day long,
So I sat down and joined in the chorus of song.
The foolhardy ploughman I well could endure,
His praise was worth nothing, his censure was poor;
Fame bade me go on, and I toiled the day long,
Till the fields where he lived should be known in my song.
His praise was worth nothing, his censure was poor;
Fame bade me go on, and I toiled the day long,
Till the fields where he lived should be known in my song.
| The later poems of John Clare | |