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'John Clare was the great poet of “enclosure”. Unlike other major Romantic writers, he was of the peasantry – he lived through a period during which lands once held for the benefit of all were privatised in the name of “improving” agricultural productivity. Such commons were fenced off and patrolled against encroachment:
'There once were lanes in nature’s freedom dropt,
There once were paths that every valley wound –
Inclosure came, and every path was stopt;
Each tyrant fix’d his sign where paths were found,
To hint a trespass now who cross’d the ground…' (Introduction)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Last amended 4 Jul 2022 08:50:31
Claire G. Coleman Enclave
The Saturday Paper