John Claire Book Review

John Clare
A biography

Jonathan Bate; 2003 Picador; ISBN 0 330 37106 1

£25.00

Most historical biographies outside of the Monarchy struggle for information on the childhood and youth of their subject – this is not the case here.  Bate has an excess of detail of the early life of Clare and he doesn’t hesitate to give us a full insight.  Such depth is perhaps justified as the emergence of peasant poets is attributed to their upbringing, but there is a sense that the story of Clare drags.

In his preface Bate does warn of such detail “It is based on a thorough examination of all the available sources, both published and unpublished”.  This is not a story of Clare’s life – that would be a shorter more succinct volume.  This is a scholarly work, awash with detail, references, and citations – and as such it works.

Clare is a difficult subject – limited education, illiterate parents (his judgement!), peasant class, low income, a tortured approach to his own personal life, illness and culminating in confinement defined as madness.  All these make it tricky to assess the character, but Bate wrestles his subject down.  We are given point by point analysis, the step by step life of Clare is plotted and followed and nothing is missed.

Bate is clearly fascinated by his subject – his curiosity over Clare’s marriage and fidelities spill over but is subject to interpretation.  It is without doubt that a new reading of the correspondence of advocate and friend Mrs. Eliza Emmerson will bring new or a different light to Clare’s personal life.  The power of language can be so misinterpreted over time – great weight is placed on the letter which suggests Clare keeps a picture of Eliza in his drawers upstairs.  In fact nothing says the portrait is of Eliza herself…

Clare’s poetry is still fresh and strong – his voice rings out for his observations, his normality and crucially his localness – he talks and speaks of what he sees and he captures atmosphere well.  All this at a time when the Peasant Poets were fashionable: London and society wanted to understand to people – but only at a cursory level and it is this that stymies Clare.  He does not achieve the success he strives for, he does not hear the praise he wants, and financial security plagues him.

When thinking about Bloomfield there are interesting insights to the struggle faced by budding poets in the late 18^th early 19^th century.  The reliance on patronage, the absence of income and monetary reward – a feature still enjoyed by poets today – but crucially the absence of fellow poets to share and discuss meant development was isolated.  This in itself magnifies the brilliance of what Clare wrote, but nonetheless explains something of the confines and the controls of the editors/financial publishers.  It is crucial to remember that books were a limited luxury and literacy itself was limited.

It is also clear that Bloomfield and Clare never met – any affinity they felt was as fellow poets – though Clare did meet Bloomfield’s daughter.  Clare wanted similar success – unaware of the turbulence of the fame Bloomfield experienced.  Clare’s reputation has been muffled for decades – herpes afflicted by the talk of his madness but this is dealt with well.

This is a deeply studious work; it is well written and detailed and is without doubt the definitive work on Clare.  Students will turn to this volume– it is impressive and substantial work opening Clare up to wider appreciation.

Thanks to Bate, Clare’s role is better established and it is clearer how is understood to have been formative for those who followed him.  Bate removes any doubt about the significance of Clare – he makes a serious contribution to our understanding of the romantic peasant poets and of John Clare – our tortured friend.