Farmer's Boy

John Clare 1793 (Helpston) – 1864 (St Andrew's Hospital)



He waits all day beside his little flock
And asks the passing stranger what's o'clock,
But those who often pass his daily tasks
Look at their watch and tell before he asks.
He mutters stories to himself and lies
Where the thick hedge the warmest house supplies,
And when he hears the hunters far and wide
He climbs the highest tree to see them ride--
He climbs till all the fields are blea and bare
And makes the old crow's nest an easy chair.
And soon his sheep are got in other grounds--
He hastens down and fears his master come,
He stops the gap and keeps them all in bounds
And tends them closely till it's time for home.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
58

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCCDDEEFGFH
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 621
Words 122
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

John Clare

John Clare was an English poet in his time he was commonly known as the Northamptonshire Peasant Poet more…

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    Poet George McDonald wrote a two-word poem that reads _____ _____?
    A See You!
    B Come Home.
    C Good Bye.
    D Let's Go.