Transcribed from the 1922 University of Illinois edition byDavid Price,
COUNTRY LIFE IN THE POETRY OF JOHN CLARE
BY
MILDRED M. COEN
THESIS
FOR THE
DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS
IN
ENGLISH
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS ANDSCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
1922
p.iiUNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
January 23, 1922
THIS IS TOCERTIFY THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISIONBY
Mildred M. Coen
ENTITLED Country Life In The Poetry ofJohn Clare
IS APPROVEDBY ME AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREEOF
Bachelor of Arts
Clarence Valentine Boyer
Instructor in Charge
Approved
HEAD OFDEPARTMENT OF English
p.iiiTable of Contents
| PAGE | |
1. Part I | Economic Conditions in the Time of John Clare | |
2. Part II | The Life of John Clare | |
3. Part III | Country Life in the Poetry of John Clare | |
4. Bibliography | ||
p. 1PARTI
Economic Conditions in the Time of Clare
About forty years before the birth of the Poet Clare, (1793)there began in England a land revolution which by the end of theeighteenth century pauperized a great part of the ruralpopulation. Up until 1750 fully half of the land of Englandwas worked in “common”, or in accordance with whatwas known as the open field system. This open field systemmeans that there were special fields set aside for plowland. These fields were divided into very small stripswhich were alternately cultivated and left unplowed. Besides this plow land, there was a definite area of grazingland, known as the commons. With the coming of enclosuresthis open field system was abolished. (By the term‘enclosure’ is meant that all the strips of any oneman scattered throughout the holdings of the village were givento him in equivalent in a single, consolidated acreage, which hehad to fence, ditch, etc. Or again, the term