How successful will you be?
One of the things that's supposed to predict your success in life is the length of time you've spent being educated (though surely only idiots ever tell themselves they've finished their education).
John Clare, who died one hundred and fifty years ago, didn't have much schooling. He started work at the age of twelve. His family was very poor, and his long-term health problems were probably made worse by not having enough to eat as a child.
He had mental health problems, too, and although many kind people helped him over the years, he ended his life in an asylum.
I love Clare's poetry. I love the fact that a man who had been nowhere and been told so little could still find the world such a rich and extraordinary place.
And it wasn't just the world he could see that caught his attention, either. This is the last stanza of his poem Love Lies Beyond:
Love lies beyond
The tomb, the earth, the flowers, the dew.
I love the fond
The faithful, young, and true.
What greater lesson could John Clare have learned, however long he'd stayed at school?
What greater lesson could John Clare have learned, however long he'd stayed at school?
Word To Use Today: beyond. This word comes from the Old English begeondan.
I loved this, Sally.
ReplyDeleteThis resonated with me.
Thank you.
Poor, ill, one hundred and fifty years dead, and still full of power: there is still magic in the world, Eddie.
DeleteThere is indeed...wonderful post. Thank you. People need to be reminded!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Adele. It's good to remember that there are many types of hero.
Delete