William Cowper
William Cowper (1731-1800) 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.
Cowper suffered from severe manic depression, and although he found refuge in a fervent evangelical Christianity, the inspiration behind his much-loved hymns, he often experienced doubt and feared that he was doomed to eternal damnation. His religious sentiment and association with John Newton (who wrote the hymn Amazing Grace) led to much of the poetry for which he is best remembered.
“O solitude, where are the charms That sages have seen in thy face? Better dwell in the midst of alarms, Than reign in this horrible place.”
“The dearest idol I have known,Whate'er that idol be,Help me to tear it from thy throne,And worship only thee.So shall my walk be close with God,Calm and serene my frame;So purer light shall mark the roadThat leads me to the Lamb.”
“When we don't pray, we quit the fight. Prayer keeps the Christian's armor bright. And Satan trembles when he sees. The weakest saint upon his knees.”
“The good we never miss we rarely prize”
“Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much. Wisdom is humble that he knows not more.”
“Man disavows, and Deity disowns me;Hell might afford my miseries a shelter;Therefore Hell keeps her ever-hungry mouths allBolted against me.Hard lot! encompassed with a thousand dangers,Weary, faint, trembling with a thousand terrors,I'm called, if vanquished, to receive a sentenceWorse than Abiram's.Him the vindictive rod of angry JusticeSent quick and howling to the centre headlong;I, fed with judgement, in a fleshy tomb, amBuried above ground.”
“The darkest day if you live till tomorrow will have past away.”
“Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast,Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round,And, while the bubbling and loud hissing urnThrows up a steamy column and the cupsThat cheer but not inebriate, wait on each,So let us welcome peaceful ev'ning in.”
“Books are not seldom talismans and spells.”
“Satan trembles, when he sees the weakest Saint upon his knees.”
“Assail'd by scandal and the tongue of strife,His only answer was, a blameless life.”
“There is in souls a sympathy with sounds:And as the mind is pitch'd the ear is pleasedWith melting airs, or martial, brisk or grave;Some chord in unison with what we hearIs touch'd within us, and the heart replies.”
“Knowledge dwells in heads replete with thoughts of other men; wisdom in minds attentive to their own.”
“Nature is a good name for an effect whose cause is God.”
“Still ending, and beginning still!”
“Variety's the very spice of life, that gives it all it's flavour.”
“I am monarch of all I survey,My right there is none to dispute,From the centre all round to the sea,I am lord of the fowl and the brute.O solitude! Where are the charmsThat sages have seen in thy face?Better dwell in the midst of alarms,Than reign in this horrible place.”
“Eternity for bubbles proves at last a senseless bargain.”
“God moves in mysterious waysHis wonders to performs”
“Man may dismiss compassion from his heart, but God never will.”
“Their tameness is shocking to me.”