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O Silly Love! O Cunning Love!

By John Clare

Topics: classic

O silly love! O cunning love!         An old maid to trepan:         I cannot go about my work         For loving of a man.         I cannot bake, I cannot brew,         And, do the best I can,         I burn the bread and chill the mash,         Through loving of a man.         Shrove Tuesday last I tried, and tried,         To turn the cakes in pan,         And dropt the batter on the floor,         Through thinking of a man.         My mistress screamed, my master swore,         Boys cursed me in a troop;         The cat was all the friends I had,         Who helped to clean it up.         Last Christmas eve, from off the spit         I took the goose to table,         Or should have done, but teasing Love         Did make me quite unable;         And down slipt dish, and goose, and all         With din and clitter-clatter;         All but the dog fell foul on me;         He licked the broken platter.         Although I'm ten years past a score,         Too old to play the fool,         My mistress says I must give o'er         My service for a school.         Good faith! What must I do, and do,         To keep my service still;         I'll give the winds my thoughts to love,         Indeed and so I will.         And if the wind my love should lose,         Right foolish were the play,         For I should mourn what I had lost,         And love another day.         With crosses and with losses         Right double were the ill,         So I'll e'en bear with love and all,         Alack, and so I will.

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"O silly love! O cunning love!..."

Exploring the themes of classic, John Clare delivers a powerful performance in "O Silly Love! O Cunning Love!"... ### 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

"O silly love! O cunning love!..." 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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