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
cat would-be incredibles
[My kitten's] gambols are not to be described, and would be incredible, if they could.
yoga book heart
Meditation here may think down hours to moments. Here the heart may give a useful lesson to the head and learning wiser grow without his books.
time guests fit
Visits are insatiable devourers of time, and fit only for those who, if they did not that, would do nothing.
truth needs divine
All truth is precious, if not all divine; and what dilates the powers must needs refine.
freedom slave freeman
He is the freeman whom the truth makes free, And all are slaves besides.
giving causes vices
Sacred interpreter of human thought, How few respect or use thee as they ought! But all shall give account of every wrong, Who dare dishonor or defile the tongue; Who prostitute it in the cause of vice, Or sell their glory at a market-price!
freedom slave charm
No, Freedom has a thousand charms to show That slaves, howe'er contented, never know.
life stills still-life
Still ending, and beginning still.
life maps busy
What is it but a map of busy life, Its fluctuations, and its vast concerns?
art poetry mechanic
Made poetry a mere mechanic art.
moving way mysterious
God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to performs
pain vices virtue
Vice stings us even in our pleasures, but virtue consoles us even in our pains.
way tails stuck
An epigram is but a feeble thing - With straw in tail, stuck there by way of sting.
hope tomorrow passed-away
The darkest day, if you live till tomorrow, will have passed away.