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
hidden oil wasted
Our wasted oil unprofitably burns,Like hidden lamps in old sepulchral urns.
bosom egg fatal laid nest pleasure
Remorse, the fatal egg by Pleasure laid / In every bosom where her nest is made.
caesar knew posterity regions shall thy
Regions Caesar never knew / Thy posterity shall sway.
grown shrewd trust wise
Patriots are grown too shrewd to be sincere, And we too wise to trust them
known lost seek truth whatsoever
For 'tis a truth well known to most, That whatsoever thing is lost We seek it, ere it come to light, In every cranny but the right
face nose
He would not, with a peremptory tone,Assert the nose upon his face his own.
dares safety
He that dares traduce, because he can with safety to himself, is not a man.
fear hope
He has no hope that never had a fear.
kissed likewise maid seemed
He kissed likewise the maid in the kitchen, and seemed upon the whole a most loving, kissing, kind-hearted gentleman.
beneath blood drawn filled fountain guilty lose
There is a fountain filled with blood / Drawn from Emmanuel's veins; / And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, / Lose all their guilty stains.
home dunces has-beens
How much a dunce that has been sent to roam, excels a dunce that has been kept at home.
sweet flower bud
The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower.
fountain gain heroic liberal men stream
Some men make gain a fountain whence proceedsA stream of liberal and heroic deeds.
alike deserted judgment sin
My sin and judgment are alike peculiar. I am a castaway, deserted and condemned.