ABSTRACT
John Clare (1793-1864) was such a child from rural Northamptonshire. Born into extreme poverty, he worked as a herder from childhood. He taught himself to read and write, and memorised the ballads his parents sang to him. He scribbled scraps of his own poems on discarded wrappings, and produced poems like this one from an early age. He became feted as an oddity in the London season, but thereafter his life was tragic. He was plagued with neglect, poverty and, eventually, insanity. He died in a mental asylum, aged 70.
