| Lady Clare | |
| Author: | Alfred Tennyson |
| Genre: | Romanticism |
| Meter: | Iambic tetrameter |
| Rhyme: | ABAB |
| Lines: | 88 |
| Wikisource: | Lady Clare |
Lady Clare is a narrative poem by Alfred Tennyson, first published in 1842.
Lady Clare was first published in 1842. After 1851 no alterations were made.[1]
This poem was suggested by Susan Ferrier's 1824 historical novel The Inheritance. A comparison with the plot of Ferrier's novel will show how Tennyson adapted the tale to his ballad:
In details Tennyson follows the novel sometimes very closely. Thus the "single rose", the poor dress, and the bitter exclamation about her being "a beggar born", are drawn from the novel.
The 1842 and all editions up to and including 1850 begin with the following stanza and omit stanza 2:—