I ne'er was struck before that hour with love so sudden and so sweet. Her face it bloomed like a sweet flower and stole my heart away complete

- John Clare

I found the poems in the fields And only wrote them down

- John Clare

And what is Life? - An hour-glass on the run

- John Clare

I long for scenes where man has never trod;... There to abide with my Creator, God.

- John Clare

The best way to avoid a bad action is by doing a good one, for there is no difficulty in the world like that of trying to do nothing.

- John Clare

Summer is a prodigal of joy. The grass Swarms with delighted insects as I pass, And crowds of grasshoppers at every stride Jump out all ways with hap…

- John Clare

For Nature is love, and finds haunts for true love, Where nothing can hear or intrude; It hides from the eagle and joins with the dove, In beautiful …

- John Clare

I never saw so sweet a face. As that I stood before. My heart has left it dwelling place ... and can return no more.

- John Clare

Crowded places, I shunned them as noises too rude / And flew to the silence of sweet solitude.

- John Clare