Useless To John Clare Poem by Francis Duggan

A major English poet of Nature his type are so rare
And posthumous fame is useless to John Clare
Millions in money spent in a court case over his poems copywright
Yet in his sad lifetime he was seen as a lesser light
Far from his beloved home Village of Helpston and his beloved countryside
In Northampton Mental Asylum where he had lived for decades he died
Many of his poems such as I Am, The Thrush's Nest, The Badger and Clock A Clay
In the Literary World considered as classics today
England's greatest Poet of Nature is his claim to fame
In death his has become a legendary name
By lovers of poetry his poems often read
But posthumous fame is useless to the dead
As a Nature poet few with him to compare
But in life poverty and madness was the lot of John Clare.