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Nightwind

By John Clare

Topics: classic

Darkness like midnight from the sobbing woods     Clamours with dismal tidings of the rain,     Roaring as rivers breaking loose in floods     To spread and foam and deluge all the plain.     The cotter listens at his door again,     Half doubting whether it be floods or wind,     And through the thickening darkness looks afraid,     Thinking of roads that travel has to find     Through night's black depths in danger's garb arrayed.     And the loud glabber round the flaze soon stops     When hushed to silence by the lifted hand     Of fearing dame who hears the noise in dread     And thinks a deluge comes to drown the land;     Nor dares she go to bed until the tempest drops.

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"Darkness like midnight from the sobbing woods..."

This evocative piece by John Clare, titled "Nightwind", represents a masterful exploration of classic. The lines capture a profound emotional resonance... ### 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

"Darkness like midnight from the sobbing woods..." 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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