John Clare: Poems of the Middle Period: 1822-1837Volumes III and IV: The Midsummer Cushion; Peterborough Manuscript A40; Northampton Manuscript 18; ... 196 (|c OET |t Oxford English Texts)

These volumes represent the third and fourth of five volumes devoted to Clare's "middle period," between 1822 and 1837, arguably the years of his finest creativity. They range from examples of Clare's satirical and political verse, in "The Summons" and "The Hue and Cry," to a telling expression of his philosophy of nature, in "The Eternity of Nature," and probably the most important statement of Clare's poetic objectives in "To the Rural Muse."