Ancient common fields were divided up and
enclosed by hedges, and the character of the countryside changed
forever. Into this dynamic period was born John Clare, the
son of a farm labourer, at Helpston near Peterborough, in
1793. In the 1820s, Clare's first book of poetry, Poems
Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery, was published, celebrating
the rural tradition and everyday life of country people and
animals. He is perhaps best known today for his collection The
Shepherd's Calendar. John Clare developed a mental illness and
spent the last 22 years of his life in Northampton Asylum; but his
love of the country lived on in his poetry, and he remains a famous
English poet.