A Mouse's Sonnet: Discovering Complexity in Simplicity in John Clare's "The Mouse's Nest"

A Mouse's Sonnet: Discovering Complexity in Simplicity in John Clare's "The Mouse's Nest"

by: Ally Schmidt

John Clare

The Mouse’s Nest

I found a ball of grass among the hay (A)
And progged it as I passed and went away (A)
And when I looked I fancied something stirred (B)
And turned again and hoped to catch the bird (B)
When out an old mouse bolted in the wheat (C)
With all her young ones hanging at her teats[.] (C)
She looked so odd and so grotesque to me (D)
I ran and wondered what the thing could be (D)
And pushed the knapweed bunches where I stood [.] (E)
When the mouse hurried from the crawling brood (E)
The young ones squeaked and when I went away (A)
She found her nest again among the hay[.] (A)
The water o’er the pebbles scarce could run (F)
And broad old cesspools glittered in the sun[.] (F)

Written between 1832 and 1837

            When reading John Clare’s “The Mouse’s Nest” for the first time, it can be said that it’s a simple pleasant sounding poem rhythmically describing the speaker’s encounter with a mouse and her babies in their nest made of grass. You can take this poem just as it is or you can read into it even further. When taking the poem apart piece by piece you may be surprised at how much you will find in such a seemingly simplistic poem, which makes the piece even more impressive. I have found a few instances of evidence that would point to this poem being much more than what it looks to be. A simple description of seeing a mouse in the hay turns into a masterpiece in which describes a phenomenon we all participate in on a daily basis: changing, learning and discovering the natural world that surrounds us by merely observing with curious eyes and hands.

            The last lines were very peculiar to me in my first reading, after analyzing them they became the leading clues to breaking down the poem:

The water o’er the pebbles scarce could run

And broad old cesspools glittered in the sun

                                                            (13-14)

            These last lines are very different from the rest of the poem, almost out of place by how swift and out of nowhere they are introduced. This quick transition will later play a huge importance in the meaning of the poem. What I first wanted to point out was Clare’s word choice. The way he describes the cesspools as “glittering” really stuck out to me. Cesspools can be defined as tanks or wells that gather sewage, so why would he describe them as glittering? This insignificant instance is most certainly not insignificant at all. Clare used the word for a reason, which proves there is meaning and a point to adding these last two lines. In reality, one would not notice nor think about how a cesspool looks in the sun. I think that Clare is trying to say something with these two lines all on their own. The water and the pebbles described in line thirteen are natural elements, while the cesspool is a man-made element. Together they have some sense of unification. Perhaps Clare is trying to show a possibility of the natural and urban world being able to live together in a beautiful manner.

            Moving on from the glittering cesspool’s I started looking closer into the poem and found more word choices that assist the theory that this poem is complex.

And progged it as I passed and went away

And when I looked I fancied something stirred

And turned again and hoped to catch the bird

                                                            (3-5)

            As Clare writes, he finds a ball of grass among the hay (1), so he “progged” it. To prog can be defined as to search or forage. Clare is showing that he is curious about the mouse’s nest, curious enough to stop whatever he was doing, observe, and investigate it, and then later write a poem about it. This instance certainly left a mark on Clare. He “fancied” when it stirred, which shows that he was surprised and almost excited by curiosity to see more, which is proven by the last line. Throughout the rest of the poem he backs up his curiosity as he describes discovering what was hidden in the nest, the mouse and her babies, and then observing the mouse run from her nest and returning to her nest after he had walked away.                                   

            After all of the observations the last two lines are introduced, and this is how they are linked with the rest of the poem. Clare is definitely trying to show a sense of moving on in his poem. Every day we and the natural world interact, something as little and simple as searching through a mouse nest and then observing the disturbed mouse run from his home and then back is an interaction with nature. When we observe we change the world around us, and as we change we are also passing through and continuing on with our own lives. The description of the interaction with the mouse symbolizes the relationship we share with the natural world while the final lines symbolize moving past that interact to a new one in which also shows a change in perception of the surroundings when Clare is moving forward.

            Clare turns a simple instance in life into an intimate moment by observing, learning, and loving the natural world around him. If you cannot see this through just the poem itself it is proven through the poems structure. As you can see above the poem is in iambic pentameter and the poem has fourteen lines. This is a traditional sonnet. One would have some sort of loving connection with the circumstances to want to structure the poem into a complex sonnet form. This shows that Clare was thinking about what he was doing, that there is a loving connection with the natural world even if we don’t notice it at first.

            In conclusion Clare has transformed simplicity into complexity. He opens us up to the natural world and our relationship to it, how everything we do has some sort of change to our world. I feel that Clare wants to see men, animals, urban, and natural elements live together in a unified and structured way.