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Gipsies

By John Clare

Topics: classic

The snow falls deep; the forest lies alone;     The boy goes hasty for his load of brakes,     Then thinks upon the fire and hurries back;     The gipsy knocks his hands and tucks them up,     And seeks his squalid camp, half hid in snow,     Beneath the oak which breaks away the wind,     And bushes close in snow-like hovel warm;     There tainted mutton wastes upon the coals,     And the half-wasted dog squats close and rubs,     Then feels the heat too strong, and goes aloof;     He watches well, but none a bit can spare,     And vainly waits the morsel thrown away.     Tis thus they live--a picture to the place,     A quiet, pilfering, unprotected race.

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"The snow falls deep; the forest lies alone;..."

Exploring the themes of classic, John Clare delivers a powerful performance in "Gipsies"... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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Author:John Clare

"The snow falls deep; the forest lies alone;..." 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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