John Clare
July 13, 1793 – May 20, 1864
Place of Birth:
Helpston, Northamptonshire, England
Place of Death:
Northampton General Lunatic Asylum, Northampton, England
Categories:
Poetry
John Clare (13 July 1793 – 20 May 1864) was an English poet, the son of a farm labourer, who became known for his celebrations of the English countryside and sorrows at its disruption. His poetry underwent major re-evaluation in the late 20th century: he is now often seen as one of the important 19th-century poets. His biographer Jonathan Bate states that Clare was "the greatest labouring-class poet that England has ever produced. No one has ever written more powerfully of nature, of a rural childhood, and of the alienated and unstable self."