+1 if you like poetry.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

The Old Year by John Clare



The Old Year

The Old Year’s gone away
To nothingness and night:
We cannot find him all the day
Nor hear him in the night:
He left no footstep, mark or place
In either shade or sun:
The last year he’d a neighbour’s face,
In this he’s known as none.
All nothing everywhere:
Mists we on mornings see
Have more substance when they’re here
And more of form than he.
He was a friend by every fire,
In every cot and hall -
A guest to every heart’s desire,
And now he’s nought at all.

Old papers thrown away,
Old garments cast aside,
The talk of yesterday,
All things identified;
But times once torn away
No voices can recall:
The eve of New Year’s Day
Left the Old Year lost to all.

John Clare (1793-1864)

23 comments:

  1. Happy New Year!!!! Very nice blog!

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  2. A great poem to start off the New year :)

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  3. Thanks for visiting my blog today and leaving a comment! I love that poem that you posted -- in fact, there's a wonderful novel by Alan Foulds that "about" the poet John Clare. It's called The Quickening Maze and came out in 2010 -- brilliant read --

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  4. lovely. such a good poem to start the year with

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  5. Clare's a wonderful poet. Although I'm pretty familiar with his work, I hadn't seen this one before. So, thank you, and Happy New Year!

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  6. I've never read or heard this poem before...

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  7. this calender can be used in evryyear cause the year isnt showing only the date is showing..

    Salwar Kameez

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  8. and so we leave the old year behind and forward the now.

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  9. love this idea for a blog! john clare is a fave too xx

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  10. Never heard of John Clare before, but I'm definitely a fan of this.

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  11. inspiring. I'll think of this when I try to motivate myself to be less "bum-like"

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  12. Very nice blog, beautiful writing!
    Happy New Year!!
    Short Poems

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  13. I had already read John Clare but somehow not this one, it's beautiful, thanks for sharing

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  14. That's a very cool poem.

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  15. lovely poem
    I've tagged you on my blog so check it out :)

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thanks for your support!!