Selected Poems of John Clare
Volume 1
Volume 1
Bloomfield (I)
Sweet unassuming Minstrel not to thee
The dazzling fashions of the day belong
Natures wild pastures field and cloud and tree
And quiet brooks far distant from the throng
In murmurs tender as the toiling bee
Make the sweet music of they gentle song
Well -- nature owns thee let the crowd pass bye --
The tide of fashion is a stream too strong
For pastoral brooks that gently flow and sing
But nature is their source and earth and sky
Their annual offerings to her current bring
Thy injured muse and memory need no sigh
For thine shall murmur on to many a spring
When their proud stream is summer burnt and dry
Sweet unassuming Minstrel not to thee
The dazzling fashions of the day belong
Natures wild pastures field and cloud and tree
And quiet brooks far distant from the throng
In murmurs tender as the toiling bee
Make the sweet music of they gentle song
Well -- nature owns thee let the crowd pass bye --
The tide of fashion is a stream too strong
For pastoral brooks that gently flow and sing
But nature is their source and earth and sky
Their annual offerings to her current bring
Thy injured muse and memory need no sigh
For thine shall murmur on to many a spring
When their proud stream is summer burnt and dry
Poems
chosen by David Barnes from
Oxford World Classics: John Clare Major Works, and recorded for LibriVox.org
Oxford World Classics: John Clare Major Works, and recorded for LibriVox.org
