29th July 1825

Received a proof from Taylor the plan is again altered* & he now intends to print the Months only & leave out the Tales this plan is one that puts the worst first & leaves the best for a future opportunity — this proof contains 'February' & 'April' the last is good for nothing & is not worth troubling the printers with. The poem on Spring is the best in the bundle & would supply its place well.

* Taylor was now demanding, as Mr, Blunden says, 'a mechanical set of compositions' , which Clare found difficulty in supplying. Nor did Clare and Taylor see eye to eye about what was good and what was poor in Clare's poetry. Taylor, however, was on the verge of going down with brain-fever. When recovered, he defended himself against Clare's accusations by saying 'The Poems are not only slovenly written, but as slovenly composed'. Clare had to set about rewriting for The Shepherd's Calendar, which eventually came out in 1827.

No comments:

Post a Comment