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The Poems of John Clare

Edited with an Introduction by J. W. Tibble

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MARRIED TO A SOLDIER

The pride of all the village,
The fairest to be seen,
The pride of all the village
That might have been a queen,
Has bid good-bye to neighbours
And left the dance and play
And married to a soldier
And wandered far away.
The cottage is neglected,
Where young men used to go
And talk about her beauty
And see her come and go;
The bench agen her cottage
Where she used to work at eve
Is vanished with the woodbine;
And all are taken leave.

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Her cottage is neglected,
Her garden gathers green,
The summer comes unnoticed,
Her flowers are never seen;
There's none to tie a blossom up
Or clean a weed away;
She's married to a soldier
And wandered far away.
The neighbours wonder at her,
And surely well they may,
To think one so could flatter
Her heart to go away.
But the cocked hat and feather
Appeared so very gay,
She bundled clothes together
And married far away.