Shepherd's Calendar : Manuscript and Published Version

From frozen January to the long hot days of harvest, from the bursting sweetbriar leaves of March to Christmas plum cake and elderberry wine - John Clare's Shepherd's Calendar brings the country year to life with unparalleled intimacy. The cycle of the natural world and the seasonal round of village life are interwoven in descriptions that are both exact and eloquent. Now, for the first time, Clare's final manuscript version and the first published edition of the poem are presented side by side. Tim Chilcott explores the relationship between them in an introduction, and Clare's words are illuminated by Carry Akroyd's linocuts.