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The Flood

By John Clare

Topics: classic

Waves trough, rebound, and furious boil again,     Like plunging monsters rising underneath,     Who at the top curl up a shaggy mane,     A moment catching at a surer breath,     Then plunging headlong down and down, and on     Each following whirls the shadow of the last;     And other monsters rise when those are gone,     Crest their fringed waves, plunge onward and are past.     The chill air comes around me oceanly,     From bank to bank the waterstrife is spread;     Strange birds like snowspots oer the whizzing sea     Hang where the wild duck hurried past and fled.     On roars the flood, all restless to be free,     Like Trouble wandering to Eternity.

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"Waves trough, rebound, and furious boil again,..."

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Author:John Clare

"Waves trough, rebound, and furious boil again,..." 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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