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At The Foot Of Clifford Hill

By John Clare

Topics: classic

Who loves the white-thorn tree,      And the river running free?      There a maiden stood with me      In Summer weather.      Near a cottage far from town,      While the sun went brightly down      O'er the meadows green and brown,      We loved together.      How sweet her drapery flowed,      While the moor-cock oddly crowed;      I took the kiss which love bestowed,      Under the white-thorn tree.      Soft winds the water curled,      The trees their branches furled;      Sweetest nook in all the world      Is where she stood with me.      Calm came the evening air,      The sky was sweet and fair,      In the river shadowed there,      Close by the hawthorn tree.      Round her neck I clasped my arms,      And kissed her rosy charms;      O'er the flood the hackle swarms,      Where the maiden stood with me.      O there's something falls so dear      On the music of the ear,      Where the river runs so clear,      And my lover met with me.      At the foot of Clifford Hill      Still I hear the clacking mill,      And the river's running still      Under the trysting tree.

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Author:John Clare

"Who loves the white-thorn tree,..." 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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