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Explore the Ways in which John Clare Presents Feelings of

Change and Loss in his Poetry

Through his poetry, John Clare reflects on his loss of childhood and presents his attitudes

towards the changing landscape resulting from the Agricultural Revolution. Clare’s poem

Remembrances conveys both his subjective feelings of loss of his youth and naivety and also on

the more objective, material changes of the surrounding landscape. e opens the poem withreferences to the seasons to establish the idea of time and by commenting on the !pleasures" that

are !gone" he immediately creates a sense of nostalgia. Clare emphasises how things have changed

by ju#taposing the images such as !raptures", !pleasures" and !delicious" to highlight childhood joy

and the past and !decay", !all alone" and !na$ed" as harsh images of despair. To present his

feelings of loss, throughout the poem, Clare writes in past tense such as !when % used to" which is

emphasised by the anaphora. These convey Clare’s tone of reminiscence. This tone is also created

by the use of vivid language such as !sil$en grass" and !daisy gemmed in dew"& the evocative

descriptions enhance Clare’s loss. As in many of his poems, Clare uses proper names of places such

as !'ea Close (a$" and !)astwell" and !Crossberry *ay". This not only gives the readers a clear

reference emphasising the reality of what is happening, but also shows a sense of Clare’s personalloss. Another type of loss Clare writes about in Remembrances is his loss of joys and the naivety

of childhood. This particularly evident in the third stan+a when Clare reminisces having !poc$ets

full of peas" and !how delicious was the dinner time". The phonology and meter of these lines

ma$es it sound childli$e, which is particularly emphasised by the alliteration.

-espite being brought up as a child in elpston, John Clare moved to a cottage in orthborough

which was given to him by 'ord /it+william who was concerned for Clare’s mental health. Clare was

greatly distressed by this change and wrote the poem The /litting  to help him come to terms with

his loss.The /litting 

 echoes the tone ofRemembrances

in that they both deal with Clare’s sadnessat the changing landscape and feelings of isolation. 0y repeating the proper name of !Royce *ood"

Clare could be revealing his disorientation and inability to connect with the new environment, this

concept could also be shown through the image of him !'ean1ing2 upon the window sill" suggesting

that he can see the landscape but the glass is preventing him from actually e#periencing it. Clare

e#presses his feeling of displacement and how that the move to orthborough feels li$e he has

lost his identity. This is shown particularly in the line !strange scenes mere shadows are to 1him2"

which is emphasised by use of sibilance. e repeats similar images such as !foreign", !strange",

!alone" and !unpersonifying" to describe orthborough. *hen tal$ing about elpston, on the other

hand, his images are more pleasant and nostalgic, for e#ample, !native", !velvet", !sweet" and

!home fed pleasures". The contrast reveals Clare’s grieving for his loss. The /litting  also focuseson change in general. The title itself creates a sense of restlessness and brevity which is

heightened by the phonology of the word /litting . The simple rhyme scheme and regular meter

could connote Clare’s straightforward love for nature. This is also shown in the poem through the

repetition of !little" which portrays the simplicity and vulnerability of nature.

3imilarly, the poem The 4oors  is about a place which Clare was very familiar. Through this poem,

he illustrates his frustration and sadness at the changing landscape resulting from the agricultural

revolution. Clare describes the division and destruction of the landscape brought through the

enclosures law. The opening of the poem bombards us with images of abundance and freedom,

images such as !eternal", !unchec$ed" and !wild" create the liberty of the landscape prior to theenclosure. 3imilarly the freedoms of the animals being !free to range" convey they natural ease of

life. Then, in contrast the mood of the poem changes to show Clare’s sadness and frustration at

the way the landscape has changed. The alliteration of !fled and flats" echoes Clare’s anger at the

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destruction of the land. The violence of the demolition is shown through the harsh phrases such as

!mangled" and !bereft". The final section of the poem focuses on the political side of the change.

The parado#ical phrases !scared freedom" and !lawless law" could suggest the contrasting way in

which those in charge of the enclosure insist it brings freedom, when in fact, for nature, it

doesn’t.