by John Clare (1793 - 1864)
To John Clare
Language: English
Well, honest John, how fare you now at home? The spring is come, and birds are building nests; The old cock robin to the stye is come, With olive feathers and its ruddy breast; And the old cock, with wattles and red comb, Struts with the hens, and seems to like some best, Then crows, and looks about for little crumbs, Swept out by little folks an hour ago; The pigs sleep in the stye; the bookman comes-- The little boy lets home-close nesting go, And pockets tops and taws, where daisies bloom, To look at the new number just laid down, With lots of pictures, and good stories too, And Jack the Giant-killer's high renown.
Authorship:
- by John Clare (1793 - 1864), "To John Clare", 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), "To John Clare", 1964, first performed 1968 [ tenor, instrumental ensemble ], from For John Clare [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: 116