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Young Lambs

By John Clare

Topics: classic

The spring is coming by a many signs;     The trays are up, the hedges broken down,     That fenced the haystack, and the remnant shines     Like some old antique fragment weathered brown.     And where suns peep, in every sheltered place,     The little early buttercups unfold     A glittering star or two--till many trace     The edges of the blackthorn clumps in gold.     And then a little lamb bolts up behind     The hill and wags his tail to meet the yoe,     And then another, sheltered from the wind,     Lies all his length as dead--and lets me go     Close bye and never stirs but baking lies,     With legs stretched out as though he could not rise.

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"The spring is coming by a many signs;..."

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Author:John Clare

"The spring is coming by a many signs;..." 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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