In “Autumn,” the English Romantic poet John Clare describes how the land changes as summer gives way to fall. The poem employs a string of similes to compare the autumnal landscape to the things of domestic country life. However, at the end of the poem, he describes that same landscape as sublime and otherworldly. The poem suggests that the sublime, or awe-inspiring greatness beyond human estimation, can appear in everyday things.
Born in 1793, Clare was a contemporary of other Romantic poets like William Wordsworth, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats. Like the other romantics, his work often celebrated the natural landscape, especially emphasizing its capacity to provoke feelings of awe. However, Clare was unusual in that he came from a working-class, rural background. Much of his writing described country traditions as well as the natural world.
In his lifetime, Clare was best known for his first book, Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery, which was a runaway success. Following its publication, Clare gradually faded into obscurity, and in his 40s he was committed to an asylum, where he spent the rest of his life and continued to write poetry. Though much of his work is marked by feelings of loneliness and melancholy, it is also sensitive to the joys of the countryside and its creatures. Today, Clare remains less well-known than some of the other Romantics. However, he remains beloved for his simple yet surprising and subtle verse, as well as his attentive portrayals of the natural world. Present-day environmental crises make his work more relevant than ever, and have spurred new attention to Clare’s writing.
