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
taught
With outstretched hoe I slew him at the door, / And taught him NEVER TO COME THERE NO MORE.
above repose
Without one friend, above all foes, Britannia give the world repose
clubs diamond spots typical
With spots quadrangular of diamond form,/ Ensanguined hearts, clubs typical of strife, / And spades, the emblem of untimely graves.
bird supposed
There is a bird who by his coat,And by the hoarseness of his note,Might be supposed a crow.
beneath deeper
We perished, each alone: / But I beneath a rougher sea, / And whelmed in deeper gulfs than he.
false fanaticism fire
Fanaticism soberly defined, is the false fire of an over heated mind.
alone breath distant heaven reach toil
But oars alone can ne'er prevailTo reach the distant coast;The breath of heaven must swell the sail,Or all the toil is lost.
delights misery trace
But misery still delights to trace / Its semblance in another's case.
although full loss trouble
For loss of time, / Although it grieved him sore, / Yet loss of pence, full well he knew, / Would trouble him much more.
domestic happiness paradise survived thou
Domestic happiness, thou only blissOf Paradise that has survived the fall!
trade
Doing good, disinterested good, is not our trade.
knows lawyer shifting side
Then, shifting his side (as a lawyer knows how).
heard language last life lips oh passed roughly since thee
Oh that those lips had language! Life has passed With me but roughly since I heard thee last
changes god knows length shadow slow
Oh! let me then at length be taughtWhat I am still so slow to learn;That God is love, and changes not,Nor knows the shadow of a turn.