John Clare (July 13, 1793–May 20, 1864), whose poems of rural life and the natural countryside of England made him well known, was the son of a farm laborer. Married and with six children, he was impoverished all his life and his mental health disintegrated as he grew older. He had bouts of severe depression and as his alcohol consumption increased he became increasingly delusional. Clare spent several years at a private asylum and, after escaping, was eventually committed to a Northampton mental hospital where he spent the rest of his life. It was there that Clare wrote what is perhaps his most famous poem, “I Am.” Though long thought of as a minor 19th-century British poet, his reputation has grown considerably and he is now included among the major poetic figures of his age.
John Clare (July 13, 1793–May 20, 1864), whose poems of rural life and the natural countryside of England made him well known, was the son of a farm laborer. Married and with six children, he was impoverished all his life and his mental health disintegrated as he grew older. He had bouts of severe depression and as his alcohol consumption increased he became increasingly delusional. Clare spent several years at a private asylum and, after escaping, was eventually committed to a Northampton mental hospital where he spent the rest of his life. It was there that Clare wrote what is perhaps his most famous poem, “I Am.” Though long thought of as a minor 19th-century British poet, his reputation has grown considerably and he is now included among the major poetic figures of his age.
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