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
beneath brave fast native toll
Toll for the brave - / The brave! that are no more: / All sunk beneath the wave, / Fast by their native shore.
beneath deeper
We perished, each alone: / But I beneath a rougher sea, / And whelmed in deeper gulfs than he.
beneath clear leads life noise pearl turbulence wisdom wise
A life all turbulence and noise may seem,To him that leads it, wise and to be praised;But wisdom is a pearl with most successSought in still water, and beneath clear skies.
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.
ask birds jacques jean shall
I shall not ask Jean Jacques Rousseau - If birds confabulate or no
came haste soon
And up he got, in haste to ride, / But soon came down again.
breed errors faults life
Faults in the life breed errors in the brain,And these, reciprocally, those again.
blood perish rome shall word
Rome shall perish - write that word / In the blood that she has spilt.
says wife
Says John, It is my wedding-day, / And all the world would stare, / If wife should dine at Edmonton, / And I should dine at Ware.
charity press vehicle
Did Charity prevail, the press would proveA vehicle of virtue, truth, and love.
animated brush discourse mean modesty point press
Discourse may want an animated "No"To brush the surface, and to make it flow;But still remember, if you mean to please,To press your point with modesty and ease.
english-poet gives spice
Variety's the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavour.
fit insatiable visitors
Visitors are insatiable devourers of time, and fit only for those who, if they did not visit, would do nothing
enter fine foot list manners polished sets wanting
I would not enter on my list of friends / (Though graced with polished manners and fine sense, / Yet wanting sensibility) the man / Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.