Subscribe: by Email | in Reader

Hesperus -- John Clare

Guest poem submitted by Gavin Duley:
(Poem #1842) Hesperus
 Hesperus the day is gone
 Soft falls the silent dew
 A tear is now on many a flower
 And heaven lives in you

 Hesperus the evening mild
 Falls round us soft and sweet
 'Tis like the breathings of a child
 When day and evening meet

 Hesperus the closing flower
 Sleeps on the dewy ground
 While dews fall in a silent shower
 And heaven breathes around

 Hesperus thy twinkling ray
 Beams in the blue of heaven
 And tells the traveller on his way
 That earth shall be forgiven
-- John Clare
I would like to suggest John Clare's poem "Hesperus". Minstrels has already
run his most famous poem "I Am", but Clare wrote many other poems which are
equally good.

I first heard about Clare on a radio program on BBC Radio 3 a few years
back, and he is now one of my favourite poets. At his best his work has a
simplicity and immediacy to it that makes them very effective and very
moving.

Clare's patrons tried to convince him to 'raise his views' and 'prove
himself capable of talking of higher subjects than Birds and Flowers'.
Thankfully, Clare took little notice of this 'helpful' advice, and managed
to find his own voice which was at once simple, lyrical,
direct and extremely beautiful.

As a clarification, WordNet defines Hesperus thus: "S: (n) evening star,
Hesperus, Vesper (a planet (usually Venus) seen at sunset in the western
sky)"

I hope you enjoy this poem too, it's one of my favourites.

Gavin.

[ Reference: 'John Clare' (1984).
  eds. Eric Robinson & David Powell
  The Oxford Authors, Oxford University Press, Oxford. ]

46 comments: ( or Leave a comment )

Post a Comment