John Clare is one of the greatest English Romantic poets, and The Shepherd's Calendar is his masterpiece. It is a classic of English poetry and a fascinating work of social history, recording long-vanished aspects of nineteenth-century rural life.
The poem provides a calendar of the country year, in which the various tasks performed by the farm labourer take their place: ploughing in February, lambing in March, and hay-making in June. The countryman's year is also punctuated by celebrations and festivals, such as May Day games, sheep-shearing feasts, Harvest Home, and Christmas. Rooted in popular culture, the poem has many vivid descriptions of the flowers, birds, and beasts of the hedgerow and field.
This reissue, first published in 1964 and in a second edition in 1993, is published to coincide with the 150th anniversary of John Clare's death. It includes charming wood engravings by David Gentleman.
- ISBN10 0199672229
- ISBN13 9780199672226
- Publish Date 10 April 2014 (first published December 1964)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 15 March 2018
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Oxford University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 168
- Language English