Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to John Clare
- The Cambridge Companion to John Clare
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Notes on Contributors
- Chronology
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Clare the Poet
- 1 On Clare and Lyric Song
- 2 Clare’s Forms
- 3 On Clare’s Translation of Perception to Poetry
- 4 Clare and the Sublime
- Part II Clare the Naturalist
- Part III Clare’s Image
- Part IV Influences and Traditions
- Further Reading
- Index
- Cambridge Companions To Literature
1 - On Clare and Lyric Song
from Part I - Clare the Poet
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 November 2024
- The Cambridge Companion to John Clare
- The Cambridge Companion to John Clare
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Notes on Contributors
- Chronology
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Clare the Poet
- 1 On Clare and Lyric Song
- 2 Clare’s Forms
- 3 On Clare’s Translation of Perception to Poetry
- 4 Clare and the Sublime
- Part II Clare the Naturalist
- Part III Clare’s Image
- Part IV Influences and Traditions
- Further Reading
- Index
- Cambridge Companions To Literature
Summary
Clare had the good fortune to be born into a period of excitement and experimentation in poetry. Ideas about poetry were changing, as were practices of reading and writing. This chapter examines how Clare participated in these changes. He helped to elevate the meditative lyric to the pinnacle of literary prestige by showing how everyday experiences yield pleasure and insight; by using forms with roots in oral and folk cultures, including popular song; and by modelling his poems on the music of nature and the structure of bird nests. He took part in contemporary experiments with form, language, and voice. His poems draw on the philosophical atmosphere of the Romantic age by offering readers opportunities carefully to observe Clare’s world and, by doing so, to come to know it.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Companion to John Clare , pp. 17 - 29Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024