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A Wish.

By John Clare

Topics: classic

Be where I may when Death brings in his bill,     Demanding payment for life's ling'ring debt,     Or in my native village nestling still,     Or tracing scenes I've never known as yet,     O let one wish, go where I will, be mine,--     To turn me back and wander home to die,     'Mong nearest friends my latest breath resign,     And in the church-yard with my kindred lie,     'Neath the thick-shaded sycamore's decay,     Its broad leaves trembling to the breeze of day:     To see its shadow o'er my ashes wave,     How soothing will it be, while, hovering near,     My unseen spirit haunts its daisied grave,     Pausing on scenes in life once lov'd so dear.

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"Be where I may when Death brings in his bill,..."

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Author:John Clare

"Be where I may when Death brings in his bill,..." by John Clare

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

John Clare

About John Clare

John Clare (1793–1864) was an English poet known as the "peasant poet" for his humble origins. His nature poetry—including "I Am" and "Badger"—captures the English countryside with extraordinary precision and emotional honesty, and he is now recognized as one of the finest nature poets in the language.

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