John Clare

CLARE, John. b. Helpstone, Northamptonshire, 13 July 1793; d. Northampton, 20 May 1864. Born into a poor family, he had some education at the dame school of Helpstone and the vestry school at nearby Glinton. As a child he was also much influenced by the singing of folk-songs and ballads. He became a day labourer, and had several different jobs, including a period in the local militia; but he began writing poetry as a young man, and through a fortunate connection between the local bookseller and a London publisher, his first book, Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery, was published in 1820. It made him briefly famous. It was followed by The Village Minstrel (1821), which had two...