The poem
I am: yet what I am none cares or knows My friends forsake me like a memory lost, I am the self-consumer of my woes— They rise and vanish in oblivious host, Like shadows in love's frenzied, stifled throes— And yet I am, and live—like vapors tossed
Into the nothingness of scorn and noise, Into the living sea of waking dreams, Where there is neither sense of life or joys, But the vast shipwreck of my life's esteems; Even the dearest, that I love the best, Are strange—nay, rather stranger than the rest.
I long for scenes, where man hath never trod, A place where woman never smiled or wept— There to abide with my Creator, God, And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept, Untroubling, and untroubled where I lie, The grass below—above the vaulted sky.
Comaan don't be so harsh . John Clare felt soo lonely and empty . Did you experience your life when it's soo empty . Well , I did it was soo painful . immagine that your life is empty from every thing no emotions no feelings no love in your life . it's a very painfull experience , I hope no one ever experience it . I just want to say that the man had lost his closly friends . He is very old . What do expect from man like him . I ask you for God sink don't be soo hard and make a quieck gudgment on the man if you didn't experience how he feels . thank you and forgive me about my spelling . that's my second language .
What I found odd about this poem is that he complains about his isolation in the beginning and then paradoxically longs for it at the end...any thoughts?
what i liked about the poem, was how clare used the sea to reflect his own emotions. he used short phrases which gave a crashing sound which tied in with the scene from a shipwreck to show intense emotions, but towards the end, the poem became more calm, like the gentle lapping of the sea.
Is it just me or does the persona commit suicide at the end?
No, suicide is not the end of the poem. He realizes this is a way to become closer with God and that he likes it. He thinks that he might as well be dead, but he really isn't.