Song (from Child Harold)

When Clare wrote this poem - in 1841 - Mary Joyce had been dead for 3 years.  She, of course, was never his wife.

Did I know where to meet thee

Thou dearest in life

How soon would I greet thee

My true love & wife

How soon would I meet thee

At close of the day

Though cares would still cheat me

If Mary would meet me

I'd kiss her sweet beauty & love them away

And when evening discovers

The sun in the West

I long like true lovers

To lean on thy breast

To meet thee my dearest —

Thy eyes beaming blue

Absence pains the severest

Feel Mary's the dearest

And if Mary's absence — how can I be true

How dull the glooms cover

This meadow & fen

Where I as a lover

Seek Mary again

But silence is teasing

Wherever I stray

There's nothing seems pleasing

Or aching thoughts easing

Though Mary lives near me — she seems far away

O would these gales murmur

My love in her ear

Or a bird’s note inform her

While I linger here

But nature contrary

Turns night into day

No bird — gale — or fairy

Can whisper to Mary

To tell her who seeks her—while Mary's away

(Lines 567 - 602)

The Oxford Authors: John Clare

ed. Eric Robinson and David Powell (Oxford, 1984)