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Mary Bateman

By John Clare

Topics: classic

My love she wears a cotton plaid,     A bonnet of the straw;     Her cheeks are leaves of roses spread,     Her lips are like the haw.     In truth she is as sweet a maid     As true love ever saw.     Her curls are ever in my eyes,     As nets by Cupid flung;     Her voice will oft my sleep surprise,     More sweet then ballad sung.     O Mary Bateman's curling hair!     I wake, and there is nothing there.     I wake, and fall asleep again,     The same delights in visions rise;     There's nothing can appear more plain     Than those rose cheeks and those bright eyes.     I wake again, and all alone     Sits Darkness on his ebon throne.     All silent runs the silver Trent,     The cobweb veils are all wet through,     A silver bead's on every bent,     On every leaf a bleb of dew.     I sighed, the moon it shone so clear;     Was Mary Bateman walking here?

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"My love she wears a cotton plaid,..."

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Author:John Clare

"My love she wears a cotton plaid,..." 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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