by John Clare (1793 - 1864)
Market Day
Language: English
With arms and legs at work and gentle stroke That urges switching tail nor mends his pace, On an old ribbed and weather beaten horse, The farmer goes jogtrotting to the fair. Both keep their pace that nothing can provoke Followed by brindled dog that snuffs the ground With urging bark and hurries at his heels. His hat slouched down, and great coat buttoned close Bellied like hooped keg, and chuffy face Red as the morning sun, he takes his round And talks of stock: and when his jobs are done And Dobbin's hay is eaten from the rack, He drinks success to corn in language hoarse, And claps old Dobbin's hide, and potters back.
Authorship:
- by John Clare (1793 - 1864), "Market Day", appears in John Clare: Poems, first published 1920 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Trevor Hold (1939 - 2004), "Market Day", 1975 [ tenor and piano ], from Gathered from the Field [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2005-12-19
Line count: 14
Word count: 115