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
friend grant passing praise remark shrewd solitude sweet whisper whom
I praise the Frenchman, his remark was shrewd - How sweet, how passing sweet is solitude! But grant me still a friend in my retreat, Whom I may whisper Solitude is sweet
bear friend indeed man pardon proves tom
The man that hails you Tom or Jack, / And proves by thumps upon your back / How he esteems your merit, / Is such a friend, that one had need / Be very much his friend indeed / To pardon or to bear it.
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?
friendship dog
Unmissed but by his dogs and by his groom.
friendship men bears
The man that hails you Tom or Jack, and proves by thumps upon your back how he esteems your merit, is such a friend, that one had need be very much his friend indeed to pardon or to bear it.
friends hate hundred
She that asks Her dear five hundred friends, contemns them all, And hates their coming.
anniversary wife friendship-love
What is there in the vale of lifeHalf so delightful as a wife;When friendship, love and peace combineTo stamp the marriage-bond divine?
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.