John Clare
1793 - 1864
The Shepherd's Calendar
January
A WINTERS DAY
Withering and
keen the winter comes
While comfort flyes to close shut rooms
And sees the snow in feathers pass
Winnowing by the window glass
And unfelt tempests howl and beat
Above his head in corner seat
And musing oer the changing scene
Farmers behind the tavern screen
Sit-or wi elbow idly prest
On hob reclines the corners guest
Reading the news to mark again
The bankrupt lists or price of grain
Or old moores anual prophecys
That many a theme for talk supplys
Whose almanacks thumbd pages swarm
Wi frost and snow and many a storm
And wisdom gossipd from the stars
Of polities and bloody wars
He shakes his head and still proceeds
Neer doubting once of what he reads
All wonders are wi faith supplyd
Bible at once and weather guide
Puffing the while his red tipt pipe
Dreaming oer troubles nearly ripe
Yet not quite lost in profits way
He'll turn to next years harvest day
And winters leisure to regale
Hopes better times and sips his ale
While labour still pursues his way
And braves the tempest as he may
The thresher first thro darkness deep
Awakes the mornings winter sleep
Scaring the owlet from her prey
Long before she dreams of day
That blinks above head on the snow
Watching the mice that squeaks below
And foddering boys sojourn again
By ryhme hung hedge and frozen plain
Shuffling thro the sinking snows
Blowing his fingers as he goes
To where the stock in bellowings hoarse
Call for their meals in dreary close
And print full many a hungry track
Round circling hedge that guards the stack
Wi higgling tug he cuts the hay
And bares the forkfull loads away
And morn and evening daily throws
The little heaps upon the snows
The shepherd too in great coat wrapt
And straw bands round his stockings lapt
Wi plodding dog that sheltering steals
To shun the wind behind his heels
Takes rough and smooth the winter weather
And paces thro the snow together
While in the fields the lonly plough
Enjoys its frozen sabbath now
And horses too pass time away
In leisures hungry holiday
Rubbing and lunging round the yard
Dreaming no doubt of summer sward
As near wi idle pace they draw
To brouze the upheapd cribs of straw
While whining hogs wi hungry roar
Crowd around the kitchen door
Or when their scanty meal is done
Creep in the straw the cold to shun
And old hens scratting all the day
Seeks curnels chance may throw away
Pausing to pick the seed and grain
Then dusting up the chaff again
While in the barn holes hid from view
The cats their patient watch pursue
For birds which want in flocks will draw
From woods and fields to pick the straw
The soodling boy that saunters round
The yard on homward dutys bound
Now fills the troughs for noisy hogs
Oft asking aid from barking dogs
That tuggles at each flopping ear
Of such as scramble on too near
Or circld round wi thirsty stock
That for his swinging labours flock
At clanking pump his station takes
Half hid in mist their breathing makes
Or at the pond before the door
Which every night leaves frozen oer
Wi heavy beetle1 splinters round
The glossy ice wi jarring sound
While huddling geese as half asleep
Doth round the imprisond water creep
Silent and sad to wait his aid
And soon as ere a hole is made
They din his ears wi pleasures cry
And hiss at all that ventures nigh
Splashing wi jealous joys & vain
Their fill ere it be froze again
And woodstack climbs at maids desire
Throwing down faggots for the fire
Where stealing time he often stands
To warm his half froze tingling hands
The schoolboy still in dithering joys
Pastime in leisure hours employs
And be the weather as it may
Is never at a loss for play
Rolling up giant heaps of snow
As noontide frets its little thaw
Making rude things of various names
Snow men or aught their fancy frames
Till numbd wi cold they quake away
And join at hotter sports to play
Kicking wi many a flying bound
The football oer the frozen ground
Or seeking bright glib ice to play
To sailing slide the hours away
As smooth and quick as shadows run
When clouds in autumn pass the sun
Some hurrying rambles eager take
To skait upon the meadow lake
Scaring the snipe from her retreat
From shelving banks unfrozen seat
Or running brook where icy spars
Which the pale sunlight specks wi stars
Shoots crizzling oer the restless tide
To many a likness petrified
Where fancy often stoops to pore
And turns again to wonder more
The more hen too wi fear opprest
Starts from her reedy shelterd nest
Bustling to get from foes away
And scarcly flies more fast then they
Skaiting along wi curving springs
Wi arms spread out like herons wings
They race away for pleasures sake
A hunters speed along the lake
And oft neath trees where ice is thin
Meet narrow scapes from breaking in
Again the robin waxes tame
And ventures pitys crumbs to claim
Picking the trifles off the snow
Which dames on purpose daily throw
And perching on the window sill
Where memory recolecting still
Knows the last winters broken pane
And there he hops and peeps again
The clouds of starnels dailey fly
Blackening thro the evening sky
To whittleseas1 reed wooded mere
And ozier holts by rivers near
And many a mingld swathy crowd
Rook crow and jackdaw noising loud
Fly too and fro to dreary fen
Dull winters weary flight agen
Flopping on heavy wings away
As soon as morning wakens grey
And when the sun sets round and red
Returns to naked woods to bed
Wood pigeons too in flocks appear
By hunger tamd from timid fear
They mid the sheep unstartld steal
And share wi them a scanty meal
Picking the green leaves want bestows
Of turnips sprouting thro the snows
The ickles from the cottage eaves
Which cold nights freakish labour leaves
Fret in the sun a partial thaw
Pattring on the pitted snow
But soon as ere hes out of sight
They eke afresh their tails at night
The sun soon creepeth out of sight
Behind the woods-and running night
Makes haste to shut the days dull eye
And grizzles oer the chilly sky
Dark deep and thick by day forsook
As cottage chimneys sooty nook
While maidens fresh as summer roses
Joining from the distant closes
Haste home wi yokes and swinging pail
And thresher too sets by his flail
And leaves the mice at peace agen
To fill their holes wi stolen grain
And owlets glad his toils are oer
Swoops by him as he shuts the door
The shepherd seeks his cottage warm
And tucks his hook beneath his arm
And weary in the cold to roam
Scenting the track that leadeth home
His dog wi swifter pace proceeds
And barks to urge his masters speed
Then turns and looks him in the face
And trotts before Wi mending pace
Till out of whistle from the swain
He sits him down and barks again
Anxious to greet the opend door
And meet the cottage fire once more
The robin that wi nimble eye
Glegs round a danger to espy
Now pops from out the opend door
From crumbs half left upon the floor
Nor wipes his bill on perching chair
Nor stays to clean a feather there
Scard at the cat that sliveth in
A chance from evenings glooms to win
To jump on chairs or tables nigh
Seeking what plunder may supply
The childerns litterd scraps to thieve
Or aught that negligence may leave
Creeping when huswives cease to watch
Or dairey doors are off the latch
On cheese or butter to regale
Or new milk reeking in .the pale
The hedger now in leathern coat
From woodland wilds and fields remote
After a journey far and slow
Knocks from his shoes the caking snow
And opes the welcome creaking door
Throwing his faggot on the floor
And at his listening wifes desire
To eke afresh the blazing fire
Wi sharp bill cuts the hazel bands
Then sets him down to warm his hands
And tell in labours happy way
His story of the passing day
While as the warm blaze cracks and gleams
The supper reeks in savoury steams
Or keetle simmers merrily
And tinkling cups are set for tea
Thus doth the winters dreary day
From morn to evening wear away
A COTTAGE EVENING
The shutter closd the lamp alight
The faggot chopt and blazing bright
The shepherd from his labour free
Dancing his childern on his knee
Or toasting sloe boughs sputtering ripe
Or smoaking glad his puthering pipe
While underneath his masters seat
The tird dog lies in slumbers sweet
Startling and whimpering in his sleep
Chasing still the straying sheep
The cat rolld round in vacant chair
Or leaping childerns knees to lair
Or purring on the warmer hearth
Sweet chorus to the crickets mirth
The redcap hanging over head
In cage of wire is perchd abed
Slumbering in his painted feathers
Unconcious of the outdoor weathers
And things wi out the cottage walls
Meet comfort as the evening falls
As happy in the winters dearth
As those around the blazing hearth
The ass frost drove from off the moors
Where storms thro naked bushes roars
And not a leaf or sprig of green
On ground or quaking bush is seen
Save grey veind ivys hardy pride
Round old trees by the common side
Litterd wi straw now dozes warm
Neath the yard hovel from the storm
The swine well fed and in the sty
And fowl snug perchd in hovel nigh
Wi head in feathers safe asleep
Where fox find ne'er a hole to creep
And geese that gabble in their dreams
Of litterd corn and thawing streams
The sparrow too their daily guest
Is in the cottage eves at rest
And robin small and smaller wren
Are in their warm holes safe agen
From falling snows that winnow bye
The hovels where they nightly lye
And ague winds that shake the tree
Where other birds are forcd to be
The huswife busy night and day
Cleareth the supper things away
While jumping cat starts from her seat
And streaking up on weary feet
The dog wakes at the welcome tones
That calls him up to pick the bones
On corner walls a glittering row
Hang fire irons less for use then show
Tongues bright wi huswifes rubbing toil
Whod sooner burn her hands then soil
When sticks want mending up and when
Mores sought to eke the blaze agen
And sifter1 dengling by their side
And poker in the fire untryd
And horshoe brightend as a spell
Witchcrafts evil powers to quell
And warming pan reflecting bright
The crackling blazes twittering light
That hangs the corner wall to grace
And seldom taken from its place
Save when the winter keener falls
Searching thro the cottage walls
Then quaking from the cottage fire
Warm beds as comforts they require
Yet still tis bright as gold can be
And childern often peep to see
Their laughing faces as they pass
Gleam on the lid as plain as glass
Things cleard away then down she sits
And tells her tales by starts and fits
Not willing to loose time or toil
She knits or sues2 and talks the while
Somthing as may be warnings found
To the young listners gaping round
Of boys who in her early day
Strolld to the meadow lake to play
And skaited races void of fear
Oer deeps or shallows any where
Till willows oer the brink inclind
Shelterd the water from the wind
And left it scarely crizzld oer
When one plopt in to rise no more
And how upon a market night
When ne'er a star bestowd its light
A farmers shepherd ocr his glass
Forgot that he had woods to pass
Who overtook by darkness deep
Had been to sell his masters sheep
Till coming wi his startld horse
To where two roads a hollow cross
Where lone guide when a stranger strays
A white post points four different ways
There by the woodsides lonly gate
A murdering robber lay in wait
The frighted horse wi broken rein
Stood at the stable door again
But none came home to fill his rack
Or take the saddle from his back
The saddle it was all he bore
The man was seen alive no more
In her young days beside the wood
The gibbet in its terror stood
Tho now all gone tis not forgot
Still dreaded as a haunted spot
And from her memory oft repeats
Witches dread powers and fairey feats
How one has oft been known to prance
In cowribs like a coach to france
And rid on sheep trays from the fold
A race horse speed to burton hold2
To join the midnight mysterys rout
Where witches meet the year about
And how when met wi unawares
They instant turn to cats or hares
And race along wi hellish flight
Now here and there and out of sight
And how the tother tiny things
Will leave their moonlight meadow rings
And unpercievd thro keyholes creep
When alls in bed and fast asleep
And crowd in cupboards as they please
As thick as mites in rotten cheese
To feast on what the cotter leaves
For mice ant3 reckond bigger thieves
They take away too well as4 eat
And still the huswifes eye they cheat
Nothing to miss as other thieves
Alls left the same as she percieves
In spite of all the crowds that swarm
In cottage small and larger farm
That thro each key hole pop and pop
Like wasps into a grocers shop
Wi all the things that they can win
From chance to put their plunders in
The shells of wallnuts split in two
By crows who wi the curnels flew
And acorn cups by stock doves pluckt
And eggshells by a cuckoo suckt
That hold what ever things they please
Stole tea or sugar bread or cheese
Wi broad leaves of the sycamore
To rap1 as cloths their daintys oer
And hazel nutts when they regale
In cellars brought to hold their ale
Wi bungholes squirrels bored well
To get the curnel from the shell
Or maggots a way out to win
When all was eat that grew within
And be the keyholes ere so high
Rush poles a laders help supply
Where soft the climbers fearless tread
On spindles made of benty thread
And foul or fair or dark the night
Their wild fire lamps are ready light
For which full many a daring crime
Is acted in the summer time
When glow worms found in lanes remote
Is murderd for its shining coat
And put in flowers that nature weaves
Wi hollow shapes and silken leaves
Such as the canterbury bell
Serving for lamp or lanthorn well
Or following wi unwearied watch
The flight of one they cannot match
As silence sliveth upon sleep
Or thieves by dozing watchdogs creep
They steal from Jack a lanthorns tails
A light whose guidance never fails
To aid them in the darkest night
And guide their plundering steps aright
Rattling away in printless tracks
Some hoisd on beetles glossy backs
Go wisking on and others hie
As fast as loaded moths can flye
Some urge the morning cock to shun
The hardest gallop mice can run
In chariots lolling at their ease
Made of what ere their fancys please
Things that in childhoods memory dwells
Scoopd crow-pot-stones or cockle shells
Wi weds at hand of mallow seeds
Where childish sports were stringing beads
And thus equipd they softly pass
Like shadows on the summer grass
And drive away in troops together
Just as the spring wind drives a feather
They ride oer insects as a stone
Nor bruize a limb nor brake a bone
As light as happy dreams they creep
Nor brake the feeblest link of sleep
A midgeon in their road abed
Neer feels the wheels run ocr his head
But sleeps till sunrise calls him up
Unconsous of the passing troop
Thus dames the winter night regales
Wi wonders never ceasing tales
While in the corner ill at ease
Or crushing tween their fathers knees
The childern silent all the while
And een repressd the laugh or smile
Quake wi the ague chills of fear
And tremble while they love to hear
Startling while they the tales recall
At their own shadows on the wall
Till the old clock that strikes unseen
Behind the picture pasted screene
Where Eve and Adam still agree
To rob lifes fatal apple tree
Counts over bed times hour of rest
And bids each be sleep['s] fearful guest
She then her half told tales will leave
To finish on tomorrows eve
The childern cringe away to bed
And up the ladder softly tread
Scarce daring from their fearful joys
To look behind or make a noise
Nor speak a word but still as sleep
They secret to their pillows creep
And whisper oer in terrors way
The prayers they dare no louder say
And hide their heads beneath the cloaths
And try in vain to seek repose
While yet to fancys sleepless eye
Witches on sheep trays gallop bye
And faireys like to rising sparks
Swarm twittering round them in the dark
Till sleep creeps nigh to ease their cares
And drops upon them unawares
O spirit of the days gone bye
Sweet childhoods fearful extacy
The witching spells of winter nights
Where are they fled wi their delights
When listning on the corner seat
The winter evenings length to cheat
I heard my mothers memory tell
Tales superstition loves so well
Things said or sung a thousand times
In simple prose or simpler ryhmes
Ah where is page of poesy
So sweet as theirs was wont to be
The magic wonders that decievd
When fictions were as truths believd
The fairey feats that once prevaild
Told to delight and never faild
Where are they now their fears and sighs
And tears from founts of happy eyes
Breathless suspense and all their crew
To what wild dwelling have they flew
I read in books but find them not
For poesy hath its youth forgot
I hear them told to childern still
But fear ne'er numbs my spirits chill
I still see faces pale wi dread
While mine coud laugh at what is said
See tears imagind woes supply
While mine wi real cares are dry
Where are they gone the joys and fears
The links the life of other years
I thought they bound around my heart
So close that we coud never part
Till reason like a winters day
Nipt childhoods visions all away
Nor left behind one withering flower
To cherish in a lonely hour
Memory may yet the themes repeat
But childhoods heart doth cease to beat
At storys reasons sterner lore
Turneth like gossips from her door
The magic fountain where the head
Rose up just as the startld maid
Was stooping from the weedy brink
To dip her pitcher in to drink
That did its half hid mystery tell
To smooth its hair and use it well
Who doing as it bade her do
Turnd to a king and lover too
The tale of Cinderella told
The winter thro and never old
The faireys favourite and friend
Who made her happy in the end
The pumpkin that at her approach
Was turnd into a golden coach
The rats that faireys magic knew
And instantly to horses grew
And coachmen ready at her call
To drive her to the princes ball
With fur changd jackets silver lind
And tails hung neath their hats behind
Where soon as met the princes sight
She made his heart ach all the night
The golden glove Wi fingers small
She lost while dancing in the hall
That was on every finger tryd
And fitted hers and none beside
When cinderella soon as seen
Was woo'd and won and made a queen
The boy that did the jiants slay
And gave his mothers cows away
For magic mask that day or night
When on woud keep him out of sight
And running beans not such as weaves
Round poles the height of cottage eves
But magic ones that travelld high
Some steeples journeys up the sky
And reachd a jiants dwelling there
A cloud built castle in the air
Where venturing up the fearfull height
That servd him climbing half the night
He searchd the jiants coffers oer
And never wanted wealth no more
While like a lion scenting food
The jiant roard in hungry mood
A storm of threats that might suffice
To freeze the hottest blood to ice
And make when heard however bold
The strongest heart strings cramp wi cold
But mine sleeps on thro fear and dread
And terrors that might wake the dead
When like a tiger in the wood
He snufts and tracks the scent of blood
And vows if aught falls in his power
He'll grind their very bones to flower1
I hear it now nor dream of harm
The storm is settld to a calm
Those fears are dead what will not dye
In fading lifes mortality
Those truths are fled and left behind
A real world and doubting mind