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The Lover's Invitation

By John Clare

Topics: classic

Now the wheat is in the ear, and the rose is on the brere,      And bluecaps so divinely blue, with poppies of bright scarlet hue,      Maiden, at the close o' eve, wilt thou, dear, thy cottage leave,      And walk with one that loves thee?      When the even's tiny tears bead upon the grassy spears,      And the spider's lace is wet with its pinhead blebs of dew,      Wilt thou lay thy work aside and walk by brooklets dim descried,      Where I delight to love thee?      While thy footfall lightly press'd tramples by the skylark's nest,      And the cockle's streaky eyes mark the snug place where it lies,      Mary, put thy work away, and walk at dewy close o' day      With me to kiss and love thee.      There's something in the time so sweet, when lovers in the evening meet,      The air so still, the sky so mild, like slumbers of the cradled child,      The moon looks over fields of love, among the ivy sleeps the dove:      To see thee is to love thee.

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"Now the wheat is in the ear, and the rose is on the brere,..."

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Author:John Clare

"Now the wheat is in the ear, and the rose is on th..." 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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