“Summer Moods” by John Clare

John Clare was an English poet born in the village of Helpston on 13 July 1793. Poorly educated and coming from working-class background, he possessed an extraordinary talent for writing poetry, with special interest in nature and descriptions of rural life. Sadly, in his later life he struggled with mental health and spent a number of years committed to asylums. He died in Northampton on 20 May 1864.

In this post we’re going to read Clare’s short poem “Summer Moods.” It wonderfully captures the sense of enjoyment in a simple nature walk on a summer evening. It’s found in a lovely anthology entitled Sunshine in the Country: A Book of Rural Poetry, published in London in 1861.

As usual on this blog, below the poem you’ll find a simple vocabulary exercise designed for English language learners.

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I love at eventide to walk alone,
Down narrow lanes, o’erhung with dewy thorn,
Where, from the long grass underneath,—the snail
Jet black, creeps out, and sprouts his timid horn.
I love to muse o’er meadows newly mown,
Where withering grass perfumes the sultry air;
Where bees search round with sad and weary drone,
In vain, for flowers that bloom’d but newly there;
While in the juicy corn the hidden quail
Cries, “wet my foot,” and, hid as thoughts unborn,
The fairy-like and seldom-seen landrail
Utters, “craik craik” like voices under ground,
Right glad to meet the evening dewy veil,
And see the light, fade into gloom around.

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VOCABULARY EXERCISE

Find the words in the poem with the following meaning:

• under, below (prep.)
• fearful, shy (adj.)
• to ponder, consider, contemplate (v.)
• hot, muggy, humid (adj.)
• hum, buzz (n.)
• darkness (n.)

To check your answers, click here.

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ADDITIONAL READING

What John Clare’s poetry can teach us about nature

John Clare, the poet of the environmental crisis – 200 years ago

The loneliness and longing of John Clare

The grandfather of new nature writing was a bird-loving poet

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NOTES

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COVER IMAGE CREDIT

Photo by Sylwia Bartyzel via Unsplash.