Hail, humble Helpstone ... Where dawning genius never met the day, Where useless ignorance slumbers life awayUnknown nor heeded, where low genius triesAbove the vulgar and the vain to rise.--from "Helpstone""I Am": The Selected Poetry of John Clare is the
Clare's highly personal evocations of landscape and place are some of the most poignant lyrics in English poetry. His celebration of all forms of natural life and his laments for the death of rural England grew directly out of his intimate knowledge of th
