Perhaps it is possible to say that without Patty, John Clare would be simply regarded as a very minor poet indeed. Clare admitted as much himself when he wrote: “the cut of her face always delighted me more then any other & had I never seen her my attempts at poetry woud never have been resumd after my removal at Casterton” - he later wrote: “I met Patty by accident fell in love by accident married her by accident and esteemed her by choice”.
Much has been written over the past century on Clare’s illusory relationship with his childhood sweetheart Mary Joyce, who will be the subject of the next volume in this series. However, scant attention seems to have been paid to his courtship of Patty, and how this relationship affected his poetic output at a crucial time in its development.
Escaping from his co-labourers in Tikencote, strolling the meads of the Gwash his poetic gifts flourished, more particularly so when he chanced to see a beautiful young woman making her way from baulk to baulk across the barley.
'Patty' is priced at £6 inc. P&P - Drop me a line :
arborfield (at) pm (dot) me
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