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"A fretful temper will divide
The closest knot that may be tied,
By ceaseless sharp corrosion;
A temper passionate and fierce
May suddenly your joys disperse
At one immense explosion."
William Cowper (1731-1800), British poet. "Friendship," (written 1781, published 1800). |
"His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev'ry hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow'r."
William Cowper (1731-1800), British poet. God moves in a mysterious way (l. 17-20). . .
Seven Centuries of Poetry; Chaucer to Dylan Thomas. A. N. Jeffares, ed. (1955) Longmans, Green & Company. |
"John Gilpin was a citizen
Of credit and renown,
A train-band captain eke was he
Of famous London town."
William Cowper (1731-1800), British poet. John Gilpin (l. 1-4). . .
Oxford Book of Narrative Verse, The. Iona Opie and Peter Opie, eds. (1983) Oxford University Press. |
"Now let us sing, Long live the king,
And Gilpin long live he;
And when he next doth ride abroad,
May I be there to see!"
William Cowper (1731-1800), British poet. John Gilpin (l. 249-252). . .
Oxford Book of Narrative Verse, The. Iona Opie and Peter Opie, eds. (1983) Oxford University Press. |
"Mr. Grenville squeezed me by the hand again, kissed the ladies, and withdrew. He kissed likewise the maid in the kitchen, and seemed upon the whole a most loving, kissing, kind-hearted gentleman."
William Cowper (1731-1800), British poet. Letter, March 29, 1874. Letters and Prose Writings of William Cowper, vol. 2, eds. J. King and C. Ryskamp (1981). |
"Man disavows, and Deity disowns me:
Hell might afford my miseries a shelter;
Therefore hell keeps her ever-hungry mouths all
Bolted against me."
William Cowper (1731-1800), British poet. Lines Written During a Period of Insanity (written 1763).
The poem, one of Cowper's Sapphics, was written in 1763, a year in which Cowper made three suicide attempts, which were followed by a period of insanity and hospitalization. |
"God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm."
William Cowper (1731-1800), British poet. repr. In Poetical Works, ed. H.S. Milford (1934). Olney Hymns, no. 35, "Light Shining Out of Darkness," (1779). |
"And Satan trembles when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees."
William Cowper (1731-1800), British poet. repr. In Poetical Works, ed. H.S. Milford (1934). Olney Hymns, no. 29, "Exhortation to Prayer," (1779). |
"Here may we prove the pow'r of pray'r,
To strengthen faith, and sweeten care;
To teach our faint desires to rise,
And bring all heav'n before our eyes."
William Cowper (1731-1800), British hymn-writer. Published in Olney Hymns, in Three Books, London, W. Oliver (1779). "On Opening a Place for Social Prayer," hymn #XLIV, book ii, pp. 234-35, l. 13-16 (1769). |
"Toll for the brave—
The brave! that are no more:
All sunk beneath the wave,
Fast by their native shore."
William Cowper (1731-1800), British poet. On the Loss of the Royal George (l. 1-4). . .
New Oxford Book of English Verse, The, 1250-1950. Helen Gardner, ed. (1972) Oxford University Press. |
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