Poems Chiefly from Manuscript (1920) is a selection of John Clare's poems edited by Edmund Blunden and Alan Porter, which revealed many unpublished works, including poems written in the asylum. It played a key part in the rediscovery of Clare in the twentieth century.
The edition
After his death, Clare was almost forgotten, and most of his manuscripts lay unpublished in libraries at Peterborough and Northampton. In 1920 the poet Edmund Blunden and Alan Porter published a selection drawn largely from them.
The book appeared in London, published by Richard Cobden-Sanderson, the centenary of Clare's first collection.
Asylum poems
The volume included lyrics written at Northampton, among them I Am, in which Clare describes himself as forsaken by his friends and longing for a quiet place beyond the world.
These late poems, simple and intense, moved readers and changed the image of Clare as a mere describer of the countryside.
Rediscovery
Blunden went on to edit more of Clare's work, and the twentieth century saw complete editions of his poems and prose. Poets such as Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney admired him.
In 1989, as his reputation stood higher than ever, a memorial to Clare was unveiled in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey.
Anecdotes
A centenary
Poems Chiefly from Manuscript appeared exactly a century after Clare's first book, Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery (1820).
Clare's spelling
Clare wrote with almost no punctuation and with his own spelling; his editors have long debated how much to correct it.
Frequently asked questions
Who edited Poems Chiefly from Manuscript?
Edmund Blunden and Alan Porter, in 1920.
What does the book contain?
Unpublished poems of John Clare from his manuscripts, including poems from his asylum years.
Is Clare in Westminster Abbey?
He has a memorial stone in Poets' Corner, unveiled in 1989; he is buried at Helpston.