William Cowper
William Cowper
William Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry. Samuel Taylor Coleridge called him "the best modern poet", whilst William Wordsworth particularly admired his poem Yardley-Oak. He was a nephew of the poet Judith Madan...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth26 November 1731
gossip ears trumpets
Whoever keeps an open ear For tattlers will be sure to hear The trumpet of contention.
compassion tempest lost
Me howling blasts drive devious, tempest-tossed, / Sails ripped, seams opening wide, and compass lost.
brave bravery toil
Toil for the brave! The brave that are no more.
healing men feelings
A man renowned for repartee will seldom scruple to make free with friendship's finest feeling, will thrust a dagger at your breast, and say he wounded you in jest, by way of balm for healing.
friendship dog
Unmissed but by his dogs and by his groom.
swans giving age
Ages elapsed ere Homer's lamp appear'd, And ages ere the Mantuan swan was heard: To carry nature lengths unknown before, To give a Milton birth, ask'd ages more.
ivy rotten stones
As creeping ivy clings to wood or stone, And hides the ruin that it feeds upon, So sophistry, cleaves close to, and protects Sin's rotten trunk, concealing its defects.
eagles flew invincible
Religion Caesar never knew Thy posterity shall sway, Where his eagles never flew, None as invincible as they.
simple men grace
Would I describe a preacher, I would express him simple, grave, sincere; In doctrine uncorrupt; in language plain, And plain in manner; decent, solemn, chaste, And natural in gesture; much impress'd Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds May feel it too; affectionate in look, And tender in address, as well becomes A messenger of grace to guilty men.
regret eggs pleasure
Remorse, the fatal egg that pleasure laid.
humanity
I am out of humanity's reach.
clerks sparks preaching
There goes the parson, oh illustrious spark! And there, scarce less illustrious, goes the clerk.
sadness land sorrow
The path of sorrow, and that path alone, leads to the land where sorrow is unknown.
loneliness doors lions
I seem forsaken and alone, / I hear the lion roar; / And every door is shut but one, / And that is Mercy's door.