TWA Poet: John Clare

1793 - 1864

It's the birthday of a poet who said: "I found my poems in the fields, and only wrote them down." That's John Clare, born in Helpston, England (1793). His parents were poor farm workers. John loved to read — books like The Vicar of Wakefield and Paradise Lost. He went to school until he was 12, but then dropped out to work as a farm laborer, lime-burner…