THE

SHEPHERD’S CALENDAR.

&c.

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LONDON:

PRINTED BY S. AND R. BENTLEY, DORSET STREET.

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[Engraving]

Engraved by Edwd. Finden, from a Drawing by P.Dewint.

AUGUST.

Published April 20, 1827, by John Taylor, Waterloo Place

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THE

SHEPHERD’S CALENDAR;

WITH

VILLAGE STORIES,

AND OTHER POEMS.

BY JOHN CLARE,

AUTHOR OF “POEMS ON RURAL LIFE AND SCENERY.”---“THE

VILLAGE MINSTREL,” &c.

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LONDON:

PUBLISHED FOR JOHN TAYLOR, WATERLOO PLACE,

BY JAMES DUNCAN, PATERNOSTER ROW;

AND SOLD BY J. A. HESSEY, 93, FLEET STREET.

1827.

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TO

THE MOST NOBLE

THE MARQUIS OF EXETER,

IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF

UNMERITED FAVOURS,

THESE POEMS

ARE, WITH PERMISSION,

MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,

BY HIS LORDSHIP’S FAITHFUL

AND DEVOTED SERVANT,

THE AUTHOR.

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PREFACE

____

PREFACES are such customary things, and so

often repeated, that I think good ones cannot al-

ways be expected; and I am glad that they are

so, for it gives me an opportunity of saying some-

thing which I am anxious to say, and at the same

time leaves me the hope that I shall be pardoned

for saying it so ill. I feel desirous to return thanks

to my friends, who, I am happy to say, are too nu-

merous to speak of here in any other than a general

manner. To the Public, also, I return my hearty 10

acknowledgements; and, however awkwardly I may

write them here, I feel them at heart as sincerely

as any one can do; in fact, I ought, for I have met

_viii ^{…………………………………………………..……………………………………………………………….}

with a success that I never dare have hoped to

realize, before I met it.

I leave the following Poems to speak for them-

selves,—my hopes of success are as warm as ever,

and I feel that confidence in my readers’ former

kindness, to rest satisfied, that if the work is worthy

the reward it is seeking, it will meet it; if not, it 20

must share the fate of other broken ambitions, and

fade away. I hope my low station in life will not

be set off as a foil against my verses, and I am sure

I do not wish to bring it forward as an excuse for

any imperfections that may be found in them. I

cannot conclude without making an apology for the

long delay in publishing these Poems, which, I am

sure will be readily forgiven when it is known that

_viii severe illness was the cause.

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