115 Quotes by John Clare

A maidenhead, the virgin's troubleIs well-compare-d to a bubbleon a navigable riverSoon 'tis touched t'is gone forever

harm falls most in mans destroying way

O I never thought that joys would run away from boys,Or that boys would change their minds and forsake such summer joys;But alack I never dreamed that the world had other toys

I wish I was what I have beenAnd what I was could beAs when I roved in shadows greenAnd loved my willow treeTo gaze upon the starry skyAnd higher fancies buildAnd make in solitary joyLoves temple in the field

I find more pleasure in wandering the fields than in musing among my silent neighbours who are insensible to everything but toiling and talking of it and that to no purpose.

Yet simple souls, their faith it knows no stint:Things least to be believed are most preferred.All counterfeits, as from truth's sacred mint,Are readily believed if once put down in print

I am - yet what I am none cares or knows;My friends forsake me like a memory lost:I am the self-consumer of my woes-They rise and vanish in oblivious hostLike shadows in love's frenzied stifled throesAnd yet I am, and live - like vapours tossed

How frail the bloom, how short the stayThat terminates us all!Today we flourish green and gay,Like leaves tomorrow fall.

Remember us better than we are.