Sonnet
By John Clare
I include this item to demonstrate that John Clare 'the Peasant Poet', who undoubtedly seemed unable to punctuate his own writing and whose work was therefore extensively edited, was a master of standard English and the sort of language and Romantic sentiments used by the more 'cultured' poets such as William Wordsworth.
Sonnet
Ere I had known the world and understood
Those many follys wisdom names its own
Distinguishing things evil from things good
The dreads of sin and death ere I had known
Knowledge the root of evil – had I been
Left in some lone place where the world is wild
And trace of troubling man was never seen
Brought up by nature as her favoured child
As born for nought but joy where all rejoice
Emparadised in ignorance of sin
Where nature trys with never chiding voice
Like tender nurse nought but our smiles to win
The future dreamless – beautiful would be
The present – foretaste of eternity
(First published London Magazine 6 (1822) 272; edited from MS).
From ‘Romanticism – An Anthology, 3rd Edition 2006, edited by Duncan Wu, Blackwell Publishing, ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-2085-2