Country Life in the Poetry of John Clare

Coen, Mildred M.Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.5

Word count: 36K words
Chapters: 4

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Country Life in the Poetry of John Clare by Mildred M. CoenAuthor: Coen, Mildred M.,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jan 1, 2017

Editor's review

This book focuses on the English rural poet John Clare, using "country life" as a thread to trace nature, labor, and local experience in his poetry. A public-domain e-book, it reads more like a research guide than an ordinary poetry anthology: the author, Mildred M. Cohen, combines close reading with thematic synthesis to help readers understand how Clare transformed fields, seasons, and villagers' daily lives into poetry. For readers who want an introduction to Clare but do not know where to start, the book offers a clear framework of questions; for those already familiar with his work, it can also prompt a fresh look at the place of "country" within the Romantic tradition. It is best read alongside Clare's original poems, with attention to how the quoted verses echo the argument. Because the book was written relatively early, some critical perspectives bear the marks of their time, and readers may keep a critical eye. Suitable as supplementary material for English literature courses, or for slow reading by those interested in pastoral poetry and writing about place.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of English literature who need to understand the rural themes in Clare's poetry
General readers interested in nature poetry of the Romantic period
Researchers seeking a thematic-critical introduction to John Clare
University teachers who can use it as course reference or further reading

Not a good fit for

Readers who only want Clare's original poems and do not care for critical analysis
Readers expecting a full biography or detailed biographical scholarship on the poet
Academic readers seeking a cutting-edge contemporary ecocritical theoretical framework

Reading tips

First read the table of contents and introduction to identify the thematic threads the author sets around "country life."
With each chapter, consult Clare's original poems and compare the quoted lines to see how the argument relates to the text.
Keep a pen handy to mark core concepts that recur in the book, and after finishing, review how these concepts connect.
If used for a course, pair the book with a Clare poem and give a short thematic presentation.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a poetry collection by John Clare?

No. It is a research-based discussion of the country life theme in Clare's poetry, a work of criticism rather than an anthology. It quotes original poems to support its analysis, but the main body is the author's synthesis and interpretation, suited to readers who want a critical framework for approaching the poems.

Can I read it without a background in English literature?

Yes, but it takes some patience. The book was written relatively early and its argumentation is academic, though the terminology is not dense. It is easier to follow the author's thematic synthesis and close reading if you first read a few of Clare's short poems to build a feel for them.

What should I keep in mind when reading the e-book?

This is a public-domain e-book, mainly in plain text, so line breaks in quoted poems and page information may be less clear than in a print copy. Use reading software that supports annotations, and mark quoted poems as you go so you can easily check them against the originals and the argument.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Coen, Mildred M. Author

Mildred M. Coen is a researcher of the English poet John Clare, best known for her book Country Life in the Poetry of John Clare. Publicly available information about Coen herself is limited: her nationality, dates of birth and death, education, and professional career are not clearly documented, and only one of her works is held in the collection. This work shows that her research focuses on Clare's writing about country life, examining how the poet portrays rural scenery, country labor, and the natural world, and considering the significance of rural experience in his verse. The book is a focused study of a single poet and a single theme, addressed to readers interested in Clare's poetry and in the tradition of English rural writing, and it offers a concrete path into the rural world of Clare's work.