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
children exercise rights
There is a mixture of evil in everything we do; indulgence encourages us to encroach, while we Crabbe exercise the rights of children, we become childish.
reading hem fifteen
The things that mount the rostrum with a skip, And then skip down again, pronounce a text, Cry hem; and reading what they never wrote Just fifteen minutes, huddle up their work, And with a well-bred whisper close the scene!
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.
sleep slavery fans
I would not have a slave to till my ground, To carry me, to fan me while I sleep, And tremble when I wake, for all the wealth That sinews bought and sold have ever earn'd.
country fall air
Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs Receive our air, that moment they are free; They touch our country, and their shackles fall.
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.
sadness land sorrow
The path of sorrow, and that path alone, leads to the land where sorrow is unknown.
nature long delight
When all within is peace How nature seems to smile Delights that never cease The live-long day beguile
punishment hands sin
Sin let loose speaks punishment at hand.
golden truth-is girdles
Truth is the golden girdle of the globe.
light giving age
A glory gilds the sacred page, Majestic like the sun, It gives a light to every age, It gives, but borrows none.
moral manners courtesy
A moral, sensible, and well-bred manWill not affront me, and no other can.
art immortality
Blest be the art that can immortalize.
heart sight play
Be it a weakness, it deserves some praise, We love the play-place of our early days; The scene is touching, and the heart is stone, That feels not at that sight, and feels at none.