of

JOHN CLARE

The "Northamptonshire Peasant Poet"

INCLUDING:

LETTERS FROM HIS FRIENDS AND CONTEMPORARIES,

EXTRACTS FROM HIS DIARY,

PROSE FRAGMENTS, OLD BALLADS (COLLECTED BY CLARE).

By J.L.CHERRY

"And he sat him down in a lonely place,
And chanted a melody loud and sweet."
Tennyson.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY BIRKET FOSTER