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
pain men animal
And in that hour, The seeds of cruelty, that since have swell'd To such gigantic and enormous growth, Were sown in human nature's fruitful soil. Hence date the persecution and the pain That man inflicts on all inferior kinds, Regardless of their plaints.
lying poet boast
And, of all lies (be that one poet's boast) / The lie that flatters I abhor the most.
voice wanted stills
The still small voice is wanted.
love grace lord
Lord, it is my chief complaint, That my love is weak and faint; Yet I love thee and adore, Oh for grace to love thee more!
forgiving pairs pity
The kindest and the happiest pair Will find occasion to forbear; And something, every day they live, To pity, and perhaps forgive.
dear heretic fellows
A heretic, my dear sir, is a fellow who disagrees with you regarding something neither of you knows anything about.
running home fancy
Fancy, like the finger of a clock, Runs the great circuit, and is still at home.
art farewell sound
Where thou art gone, adieus and farewells are a sound unknown.
get-well recovery views
To impute our recovery to medicine, and to carry our view no further, is to rob God of His honor, and is saying in effect that He has parted with the keys of life and death, and, by giving to a drug the power to heal us, has placed our lives out of His own reach.
friendship book home
Friends, books, a garden, and perhaps his pen, Delightful industry enjoy'd at home, An Nature, in her cultivated trim Dress'ed to his taste, inviting him abroad - Can he want occupation who has these?
music sight silence
Nor rural sights alone, but rural sounds, Exhilirate the spirit, and restore The tone of languid nature.
religious heaven universal-love
Heaven's harmony is universal love.
kissing soul tears
Perhaps thou gav'st me, though unseen, a kiss; Perhaps a tear, if souls can weep in bliss.
cat skins kitten
I have a kitten,the drollest of all creatures that ever wore a cat's skin.